Defending Indiana state champs and 2016 national high school club runners up Royal Irish had all they could handle Tuesday with Fishers HS.
Royal Irish held off Fishers 22-17 in a game where both teams lamented missed scoring opportunities. Royal Irish led 8-0 at halftime, and Fishers clawed back. But some missed kicks hurt Fishers a little. But Royal Irish Head Coach Scott Peterson said his team left ten points unclaimed in the opening 20 minutes with a knock-on in front of the posts, and a missed penalty kick.
Missed scoring opportunities aside, both teams had some strong performances.
Outside center Michael Nettleton scored two tries for Fishers, while flanker Jake Winkle scored a try and logged an impressive 17 tackles. For Royal Irish, prop Andy Guhl and No. 8 Russell Lemaster played well, while in the backs scrumhalf Jake Christmann and center Nick Frederick also had a good evening.
"Overall we didn't do much well for a lot of the game," said Peterson. "They are a tough team. We felt it should have been 18-0 at halftime, but in the second half they played right with us."
Meanwhile, Penn HS logged an 84-0 shutout over Bishop Dwenger to stay undefeated, dominating possession.
"Finally our offense has really started to click the last couple weeks," said Penn Head Coach Bart Bottorff. "Dwenger is a good team and they're really good guys. We just starved them of the ball and really ran our patterns well"
Will Vakalahi continued to shine after receiving an award the night before from the Indianapolis Star as one of the top players in Indiana, He scored three tries. Sophomore Cian Messner was voted offense of player of the game with seven conversions and some nice assists, including a couple to Leegrand Alovili, who scored four tries.
Next up for all of these teams is the Midwest Championships.
Royal Irish held off Fishers 22-17 in a game where both teams lamented missed scoring opportunities. Royal Irish led 8-0 at halftime, and Fishers clawed back. But some missed kicks hurt Fishers a little. But Royal Irish Head Coach Scott Peterson said his team left ten points unclaimed in the opening 20 minutes with a knock-on in front of the posts, and a missed penalty kick.
Missed scoring opportunities aside, both teams had some strong performances.
Outside center Michael Nettleton scored two tries for Fishers, while flanker Jake Winkle scored a try and logged an impressive 17 tackles. For Royal Irish, prop Andy Guhl and No. 8 Russell Lemaster played well, while in the backs scrumhalf Jake Christmann and center Nick Frederick also had a good evening.
"Overall we didn't do much well for a lot of the game," said Peterson. "They are a tough team. We felt it should have been 18-0 at halftime, but in the second half they played right with us."
Meanwhile, Penn HS logged an 84-0 shutout over Bishop Dwenger to stay undefeated, dominating possession.
"Finally our offense has really started to click the last couple weeks," said Penn Head Coach Bart Bottorff. "Dwenger is a good team and they're really good guys. We just starved them of the ball and really ran our patterns well"
Will Vakalahi continued to shine after receiving an award the night before from the Indianapolis Star as one of the top players in Indiana, He scored three tries. Sophomore Cian Messner was voted offense of player of the game with seven conversions and some nice assists, including a couple to Leegrand Alovili, who scored four tries.
Next up for all of these teams is the Midwest Championships.