The opening day of the Great Northwest Challenge is in the books, and the tournament's early contenders have started to emerge thanks to some lopsided results on Friday. In every pool, there are two teams that sit atop the standings, which will make for a thrilling Saturday in Boise, Idaho.

Watch Day 2 of the Great Northwest Challenge LIVE on FloRugby

Lumbering Loggers

The Boys Varsity bracket is led by Evolution Academy, the Eagles Impact Rugby Academy (EIRA), and the Washington Loggers.

The Loggers did not allow a point in either match on the first day, scoring more than 46 points in shutouts victories over the NorCal Barbarians and the Rhino Rugby Academy. Those results make the Loggers a favorite to win the Boys Tier 1 bracket. 

Just as FloRugby predicted in the Northwest RCT preview, the two dominant players for the Loggers have been flanker Alex Cleary and No. 8 Mo Vea. Cleary is the leader of this squad and a fundamentally flawless flanker, while Vea has a massive presence on the field. On Friday, it looked like defenders didn’t know how to defend him.

In the final match of the day, Washington received three yellow cards in a 45-minute game. At one point in the Loggers were down to 13 players. This indicated the Loggers' strength because they won 46-0 despite playing much of the game shorthanded. But, a yellow card in a semifinal or a final against EIRA or Evolution almost guarantees the opposition points.

Evolution Execution

The Evolution Academy executed its game plan in each portion of the pitch. Oregon had its moments on the attack that put the squad under pressure, but a combination of box kicks from the scrumhalf Ethan VanToder and kicks for touch from his brother, Kyle, consistently flipped the field for Evolution.

Ethan had an excellent pass at scrumhalf from the base and stepped his way through the defense for a try. But Kyle VanToder was the boss of the team. Kyle played flyhalf in Evolution’s second match despite wearing a No. 13 on his back. This could be a sign that the coaching staff likely intended to play Kyle at outside center but decided to make the change. It was a good move regardless. VanToder barked orders from the flyhalf slot and found his teammates on crash balls and skip passes as well as the occasional grubber kick. If Evolution is to win this tournament, it will be behind the offensive execution of the VanToder brothers.

Fearing EIRA

EIRA and the Washington Loggers have combined for exactly the same point total in their day one matches. With a total of 114 points for and seven points against, EIRA is an offensive machine. In both matches, EIRA was able to dominate the possession battle, giving its opponents (the Oregon Redhawks and Montana) minimal opportunities to start their offense.

Ethan McVeigh was the field general at scrumhalf. He scored a try of his own with a sidestep and a killer stiff arm. McVeigh slotted several conversion kicks for his squad.

Based on point differential, the EIRA boys out of Southern California would have to be the favorite with the Washington Loggers. Who is better? We'll find out at noon MT Saturday as they play in the semifinal on Pitch 2 LIVE on FloRugby.

The Great Northwest Challenge Boys Tier 1 RCT Championship will be on Pitch 1 at 3 PM MT live on FloRugby as well.

Utah Utility

The Utah Cannibals Girls Tier 1 side had a pair of thoroughbreds in Delaney Rakuita and Addie Horsley who could not be stopped. Each had their own 40-meter tries in their first match against NorCal but scored in different ways. Rakuita, who will play her college rugby at BYU, spent much of the first half serving as a link for her outside backs. Then when the NorCal defense began to anticipate the pass, Rakuita threw a dummy and one sidestep would be enough to break 40 meters under the posts.

Horsley, a rangy No. 8, kept defenders off her with the stiff arm and was a lockdown defender. From the sidelines, you could hear her calling for the ball or pleading for her defense to press up. On her 40-meter try she seemed to boost off defenders with the stiff arm. The trailing defenders had to honor her passing ability by sticking close to her support which allowed Horsley to stride gracefully under the posts.

Utah will have its hands full against a strong Oregon Redhawks girls backline but expect the multi-talented Utah Cannibals to contain Oregon’s speed.

Cali Clash

EIRA’s JV side out of Southern California is destined to meet the Bay Area Sharks at some point this tournament. These two California teams dominated on day one, hanging huge numbers on their opponents. The two are in opposite pools so we could see an all-California clash in the final.

Watch out for the Washington Wolverines. This team’s bus broke down twice on the way to Boise from Washington. The team reportedly had zero hours of sleep before playing a full day of rugby. The Tier 2 squad was 1-0 and had the lead with no time but had its hearts broken by Rhino Rugby on the last play. If they are rested, the Wolverines could be dangerous.