Road To HS Nationals: Royal Irish Wins A Big One
Road To HS Nationals: Royal Irish Wins A Big One
Royal Irish has won a key league game.
Royal Irish defeated Fishers HS 24-11 to win a huge clash in Rugby Indiana HS action.
Currently ranked #1 among HS Clubs by FloRugby, Royal Irish has absorbed the loss of over 20 graduating seniors to build its squad to one of the largest in a few years.
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Head coach Scott Peterson said that since a season-opening tournament in Kentucky, he has changed some players around and put some new players, including some freshmen, in the starting lineup.
Cheering section @ Fishers. RIR A 24 - FISHERS A - 11 https://t.co/KHo2P0Y99q pic.twitter.com/VDon3Ve7Y1
— Royal Irish Rugby (@royalirishrugby) April 18, 2019
“We are a very different team from the team we had in Kentucky,” said Peterson.
And this game showed it. Fishers, coming off a tight loss to Penn HS, posed a stern test.
“They are the best team we’ve played so far,” said Peterson. “I thought we played well. They got a try off an interception, but other than that we held them to two penalties. We made a couple of mistakes, but we were overall pretty good.”
https://t.co/6Tg6yWQP8O pic.twitter.com/oRkp0PdJuP
— Royal Irish Rugby (@royalirishrugby) April 17, 2019
Overall pretty good also was No. 8 Russell Lemaster, who is among the best in the nation at that position and continues to show good form. Prop Greg Oldiges was difficult to contain, while inside center Wyatt Schrader was outstanding, playing well defensively and also working the footwork on attack.
“He’s got the best balance of anyone I’ve seen except maybe his older brother,” said Peterson.
This win sets up another big Indiana clash this coming weekend, when Royal Irish takes on Penn HS. Fishers, meanwhile, takes on Culver Military Academy.