Defending national HS club champion Royal Irish seems ready to roll after a 22-17 defeat of a solid Penn team in Indiana state action.

With Gonzaga beating the #1 single-school team, St. Edward, the single-school rankings got shuffled around, with Herriman taking the top spot, and Gonzaga close behind. But there was no such unseating for the high school clubs.

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"It was a close game at the end," said Royal Irish head coach Scott Peterson. "We didn't play as well as we're capable of. In fact, we played pretty poorly in some aspects, really, most of them probably stemming from fitness. Hopefully we can chalk that up to coming off spring break."

Still, flanker Kiernan McCormick has been consistently strong, and centers Nick Frederick and Wyatt Schrader have done the job in the midfield. Jack Kafka and Jackson Sherby continue to make plays. 

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Royal Irish followed up that performance with a win over Brownsburg, and now sits in control of the Rugby Indiana standings.

On the horizon, though, is St. Ignatius in a non-league game, and then there's a new-look Midwest Championship, with the top teams merged back into one bracket (instead of Club and Single-School being separated). This will make for a much more competitive bracket, featuring mostly teams going to nationals.

Among them, Royal Irish, which sits on top of the heap, for now.