Wake Forest Recruit Johnny McMurray at Center of High School Showdown

From eRugbyNews.com

March 18, 2009 - On Sunday, March 15th Xavier High School of New York City (#2 in the High School Rugger preseason rankings) faced off against Jesuit rival Gonzaga College High School (#7 in the High School Rugger preseason rankings) in Washington, DC. The match was a friendly rematch of Xavier narrow 22-20 victory over Gonzaga in last year’s 5th/6th place match at the High School National Tournament.

Xavier drew first blood at 6 minutes when they secured a lineout at their own 10m line and center Seamus Kelly broke found a gap, broke the Gonzaga line and beat the last two defenders to score under the posts. Flyhalf, John Gearity added the conversion. Rainy weather was certainly a factor in the match as neither team was able to find the goal line for the rest of the first half. Nevertheless, the half saw plenty of action. Gonzaga played to the conditions better as #10 Gabe Cunningham continued to play the ball into the Xavier half with booming kicks at every opportunity. Xavier’s handling miscues and ill-discipline at the breakdown and scrum gave Gonzaga three penalty kicks at goal in the first half and Gonzaga’s wing Johnny McMurray converted two penalties from near the Xavier 22 meter line to keep the match close and enter the second half with a mere one-point deficit, 7-6.

Gonzaga continued to dominate the scoring when, five minutes into the second half, they won their own lineout at midfield and sent the ball to outside center Matias Cima who broke the line and floated a nice pass over one Xavier defender to wing David Penberthy. Penberthy beat his opposite and scored near the posts. McMurray added the conversion and Gonzaga moved out to a 13-7 lead.

Xavier, however, refused to fold under the consistent pressure of Gonzaga’s fluid back attack and sharp kicking game and began to turn the match to their advantage. A Gonzaga penalty at a scrum 5 meters from the Gonzaga goal line allowed Xavier’s tighthead prop Reynaldo Riboul to crash over the line and take back the lead with the conversion by John Gearity, 14-13. From that point on, good handling and fast-paced 15-man rugby allowed Xavier to dominate both territory and scoring.

After a rambling run, 8-man Sean Carley offloaded from a tackle ten meters away from goal and scrumhalf Tom O’Neill carried the ball over for try in corner, 19-13. Moments later, a long run by fullback Greg Voigt was followed by a quick ruck and a driving mini-maul pushed Seamus Kelly over the line for a try, 24-13.

Kelly found paydirt once again when he received a short pass from Gearity after a 5-meter scrum and broke three tackles to score under the post and extend Xavier’s lead to 16 points, 29-13. Xavier’s last score came with only five minutes left in the match when, at lineout at midfield, Gearity hit prop Reynaldo Riboul who broke two tackles beat the rest of the Gonzaga defense to the corner to round out Xavier’s scoring, 34-13. Gonzaga, on the other hand, continued to play hard, skilled and disciplined rugby and their efforts were rewarded with a try in the last minute of the match. From a lineout at midfield, Gonzaga recycled a quick ruck and sent the ball down the left wing where sharp passing through three sets of hands enabled Anthony Oliverio to break through a gap and score Gonzaga’s second try. McMurray converted the try and the match ended with a hard-fought Xavier victory, 34-20.

The match was a preseason friendly and both teams move on to their league schedules and challenging tours. Gonzaga heads south to tour Argentina on Thursday before returning for the bulk of their Potomac RFU schedule. Xavier faces a huge league match with Greenwich High School (#8 in the High School Rugger preseason rankings) on April 1 before heading to California to play defending National High School Champions Jesuit High School of Sacramento, 2004 Tier B National Champions Elsie Allen High School, and San Francisco Golden Gate (#7 U19 club in the High School Rugger preseason rankings).