Atlanta Old White won the first qualifier of the South club sevens season, defeating Stormers 24-21 in the final.

Played as part of the Rusted Knights 7s in Orlando, FL, the qualifier is the first of two this season in the South. Old White, which made the national 15s D2 club final this spring, and is a regular at Club 7s Nationals, started the weekend with a 31-0 shutout of that same Stormers team, and then a 19-5 win over Mad Rocks.

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Teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in their pools them played off to see who would make the semis. The Stormers beat Optimus 31-15, while Stormers Ice beat Mad Rocks 42-12.

That set up the semifinals. Atlanta Old White took on Stormers Ice and won 24-0. Stormers faced Boca Raton, which had beaten Stormers FireStorm 24-7 and Optimus 24-12 to win Pool B. But the lower-seeded Stormers took this one, 12-7 to make the final.

Showing some improvement over the course of the day, the Stormers pushed Atlanta Old White, but AOW won a close one 24-21.

Bolstered by the return of Colton Cariama, and with Gerson Blaise, Lucas Baistrocchi, and Erick Ombasa, among others, in strong form, Old White now leads in the two-tournament South series. A win in the next tournament will book a spot at nationals.