|
Printed From Acorn-Online.com Sports
In fact, it is more motivated and determined than ever. “We have a tough road ahead of us, but I think we could definitely do well,” Greenwich High School senior Paul Jarvis said. “Coach will definitely get us ready and we’ve been working at it all season. We’ve got a good opportunity. We need keep our heads in the game no matter what. I think this team’s more than capable of winning the championship.” Starting Saturday, Greenwich will take part in the Northeasterns championship, which will be played at West Point’s Anderson Rugby Complex. In the two-tournament competition, Big Red will be playing in the difficult single-school tournament. In that eight-team field, Greenwich, ranked second in the Metropolitan New York Rugby Football Union, is ranked second overall at Northeasterns. “I like our chances of getting to the finals,” head coach Steve Lapham said. “We got to get close, come away with points. We need to get going early and get scoring early. We haven’t played our best rugby the past few weeks, but I think we will pull it together and will be fine. We need to hold on to the ball, tackle legs and be committed to the rucks.” The top-seeded team at the tournament is Xavier, with Fairfield Prep earning the No. 3 seed. Seeded tops in the New England Union, St. John’s Prep is seeded fourth at Northeasterns, while fellow New England Union team Boston College High is seeded fifth. The top seed in the New York State Union, McQuaid, is seeded sixth at Northeasterns, while Metro New York’s Keio Academy is seeded seventh. New York State Union’s No. 2-seeded Fairport rounds out the field and is seeded eighth at this year’s Northeasterns. “We need 100% from every single player on the team,” Greenwich senior Mike Martino said. “We need to play as a team and score points across the board. There are short halves here, so we need to get on the board quick and play our hardest game. We have the team and personnel to do this. It’s the matter of playing our best rugby.” Just as the competition Greenwich will face this weekend is stronger than ever, there’s another wrench thrown into the works. In the past, the top two teams advanced to the National Championship tournament. This year, if Greenwich wants to compete in the USA Rugby National Guard Boys’ High School Championships, which will take place starting May 30 at Founders Field in Pittsburgh, Pa., it must win the Northeasters, which means most likely going through rival Xavier, the same team that beat GHS 33-7 earlier this month, to advance. “We’ve got to beat Xavier and that was our goal at the beginning of the year,” Lapham said. “If that’s the way it’s got to be, we’ve got to do what we have to do for both games on Saturday, stay fresh and healthy and chance the whole climate of the game against Xavier. We need to get going early, get in their zone, get points, and play better defense.” “It’s definitely nice to get a second opportunity to get Xavier, but we’ve got to play well Saturday first,” Greenwich’s Paul Jarvis said. “It’s not a given that we will get to the finals.” Another huge difference for Greenwich at this weekend’s Northeasterns is the length of the game. Instead of playing two 35-minute halves, the length of the game at this weekend’s tournament will be two 20-minute halves. During Big Red’s 66-0 blanking of Staples High School last Saturday, Lapham wanted his team to come out firing. Not only did they come out and take a quick 33-0 lead at the half, but they also held possession nearly the entire game. “Our goal against Staples was to score as many points as we could in 20 minutes, although we were still playing 35-minute halves,” Lapham said. “We wanted to speed our game up, kick the ball down the field more and get in scoring position instead of wearing a team down like you could do in a 70-minute match.” “The two 20-minute halves are a big change,” Jarvis said. “If we go out and hit hard the first five minutes of the game, it will make a really big difference in the game. We need to come out with a lot of intensity.” At 11 a.m. on Saturday, Greenwich will open play against familiar foe Keio Academy. Greenwich’s first scrimmage of the year was against Keio, and on March 20, Big Red battled the team in the regular season, winning 53-0. If Greenwich comes out on top, it will face the winner of Fairfield Prep versus McQuaid at 5 p.m. On April 9, Greenwich traveled to Fairfield Prep and came away with a nail-biting 22-8 victory. “We played Keio well the last time,” Lapham said, “and have beaten them twice this year. We need to stay physical with them and keep our hands on them and not let them get free in the open field. I am hoping Prep wins and we see them again. It’s going to be a tough game. Last time we played them, we scored four tries and they scored one. It wasn’t a blowout and we were down in the first 40 minutes.” If Greenwich wins both games on Saturday, and everything else goes according to plan, Big Red will get one more chance at rival Xavier Sunday at 3 p.m. for the championship. “We’ve set our sights and goals high this year,” Lapham said. “We were waiting for Xavier and when we didn’t beat them, we didn’t really play that well. There was a letdown and it’s going to take a lot of character to get back to play Xavier in the championship match. I am hoping the leadership of the captains, the seniors and the veteran players that have been there to the big shows will come through this weekend.” In order to be successful, Greenwich will be relying heavily on its veteran core. In addition to Schuyler Kruizenga, Paul Jarvis, Lucas Gowland, and Spencer Harrison, the Cards need a big weekend from Matt Cavataro and Geoff Kalan, the team’s scrum half and fly half. “Those two are our decision-makers,” Lapham said. “If they are making good decisions and are directing our offense in the right way and our defense is tough and we’re tackling legs, I think we’ll be OK.” While Greenwich has been looking strong throughout the season, Lapham still has reasons for concern. “What we have seen in the past few weeks is a lot of dropped balls, and that’s something that should be happening at the beginning of the year and not the end of the year,” the head coach said. “We need a little more focus on our hands and not using possession.” Despite Lapham’s concern, he also said he’s confident his squad will overcome its trouble. “We know what we have to do to beat Xavier, but we still can’t look past these first two teams we play on Saturday,” Martino said. “There is definitely a lot of great competition in the tournament. Xavier, Greenwich and BC High are the top three right now, so it’s going to be a tough road.” © Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers |
