Braves win SCYR U14 Green Division championship

The U14 Braves comprised of Greater Fallbrook middle school students and sixth-graders won the Green Division of the Southern California Youth Rugby championship tournament.

The Fallbrook Rugby Club affiliate coached by Steve Hernandez lost its first game and was relegated to the Green Division, but the Warriors won their remaining matches culminating with the March 28 final at Bear Valley Middle School in Escondido against the North County team.

Hernandez is a physical education teacher at Potter Junior High School, and most of the players attend Potter. Two of the team members are homeschooled, sixth-graders provided one player apiece from La Paloma Elementary School, Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary School, and Santa Margarita Elementary School, and since Sullivan Middle School in Bonsall has no rugby team one Sullivan student joined the U14 Braves.

Jalen Webb-Perry

The San Diego Area season began Jan. 10, and the Braves posted a 5-1 record, with the only loss being to the San Diego Aztec Warriors, to take second in the area. The Southern California Youth Rugby tournament took the top three teams in each of four areas along with four at-large teams. "We had to actually qualify just to make the playoffs," Hernandez said.

The playoffs consisted of 25-minute halves. The Braves began their post-season March 7 by hosting Back Bay, which is based in Newport Beach. The Sharks held a 14-0 halftime lead and didn't allow the Braves to narrow the deficit. "They kind of got the better of us," Hernandez said.

The Gold Division is the championship division and the Green Division is the consolation division, so the Braves spent the rest of the tournament in the Green Division along with the seven other clubs which lost first-round matches.

Pasadena was scheduled to play in Fallbrook on March 14, but the Pythons forfeited and the Braves advanced to the March 21 semifinal at home against the Santa Monica Stingrays. "We won pretty handily," Hernandez said.

The Braves had a 17-0 halftime lead before finalizing the score at 52-0. "We just put it all together and rolled them in the second half. They had no answer for us," Hernandez said.

North County is coached by Bear Valley Middle School teacher Mike Richards, so most of the Bears players attend Bear Valley Middle School. Fallbrook took a 19-5 halftime lead with tries by Bryce Perona, David Afa'ese, and Joseph Portillo and two conversions from Connor Rodriguez.

The second-half scoring consisted only of a North County try whose conversion kick was not successful. "They just played hard-nosed defense," Hernandez said of the Braves.

The championship was the first for Fallbrook's under-14 team since 2007. "It's been a really good season," Hernandez said. "As the season progressed the boys seemed to become more and more confident about what they were doing."

The championship is expected to benefit the high school club in the future, as 17 of the 24 players on the U14 Braves are eighth-graders. Hernandez, who founded the under-14 club in 2005, will need to reload his roster for 2016 although he notes that Fallbrook's youth rugby program as a whole will make the replenishment of his talent an easier task.

"I'm very pleased how rugby has definitely taken hold in Fallbrook," Hernandez said. "It really has shined a light in Fallbrook."