A week after claiming the High School National Championships, Royal Irish almost faltered in the Indiana state semifinals against Fishers.

The two Indianapolis-area teams found themselves locked in a tight game on Saturday. They entered halftime tied 7-7, and Royal Irish took a slim 14-12 lead in the second half. Despite a yellow card, Fishers was able to go ahead 15-14. But Royal Irish scored a late try to win 21-15. It was an impressive effort from Fishers and a tough game for Royal Irish, which was dealing with some injuries and players under the weather.

"Fishers can play," Royal Irish head coach Scott Peterson said. "Coming back from Nationals and playing for state is always tough."


Meanwhile, Penn beat Carroll High School 44-10 to set up Rugby Indiana's top-level boys high school final between Penn and Royal Irish, a matchup that seems to happen every year. Like Royal Irish, Penn was at last week's National Championships, where it finished third. 

While Oregon already has its winners from last week in Beaverton and the Portland Pumas, Washington waited until this weekend. Liberty has made the final almost every year in the past eight seasons, but the final once again proved to be problematic for the Patriots. After Tacoma outlasted Liberty to win, Liberty head coach Jeff Candler said, "We picked the wrong day to have our worst game."

Meanwhile in Illinois, the Neuqua Wildcats completed an undefeated regular season and got through the quarterfinals (92-0 over Marist) and the semis (41-0 over Arlington). Notre Dame De La Salette defeated Brother Rice 57-24 to advance with Neuqua to Monday's final.

The two teams' junior varsity squads will play in the JV final, as well.

Prop Tommy Canova and fullback Austin McDonnell have been outstanding for Neuqua.

And in Ohio, St. Ignatius and St. Edward will face off in the state final June 3. Ignatius got a 20-0 forfeit win over St. Xavier in the semis, while St. Edward defeated Archbishop Moeller 31-12 on Saturday in the other semi.

New York looks to have Xavier, Fordham, Pelham, and Play Rugby USA in the Metro DI playoffs while Kenmore and Canisius lead in the Western DI. Pelham got another huge game from Luke Persanis to cap off its regular season. Pelham has had a strange season. It played a game against Xavier early that was likely too early for the team -- it had hardly practiced -- and the result set Pelham back for a bit. But in the last few weeks, the Pelham has pulled it together. Xavier, having lost fifth place at Nationals on overtime penalty kicks, has a lot to prove.

Also coming off a Nationals trip, Greenwich defeated Simsbury 52-40 to win Connecticut. Simsbury led 19-7 at halftime and for much of the game held a lead over the #5 single-school team from HS Nationals. But Greenwich, as they did in Kansas City, stormed back late to win it. 

St. Augustine defeated defending New Jersey single-school champs Delbarton 41-13 led by seniors Adam Borai and Shane Goldsmid. Borai scored four tris and Goldsmid added one, while Patrick McMaster led the effort up front.

And Bishop Hendricken won the Massachusetts YRO title over Essex County. Hendricken, based in Rhode Island, is unable to play in the single-school league because that is officially sanction by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. So Hendricken moved to the club league and, led by a solid effort from Michael Rodrigues, ran out to a big win. The score has been reports as 39-5 and 43-8 ... so we'll confirm that.