Fallbrook girls win rugby championship

The Southern California Youth Rugby championship tournament was held May 12, at Mission Vista High School, and the Fallbrook Rugby Club won the girls under14 championship.

Fallbrook won four games in the round-robin tournament and outscored the opposition by a cumulative 133-27 margin.

“They know how to play the game,” Fallbrook co-coach Craig Pinnell said.

The under14 portion of the tournament utilized a seven-a-side format as did the under16 competition in which Fallbrook’s girls placed second in the round-robin standings. The under18 championship competition consisted of one game with 15 players on each side, and South Bay Youth Rugby Club defeated Fallbrook by a 39-14 score.

Seven-a-side rugby consists of seven-minute halves or 14-minute games. Because the under14 girls played one more game than their under16 counterparts, Jordyn Duncan and Tiahna Padilla began the day with the under14 squad, allowing Fallbrook to have nine players and thus two substitutes for the first game. The Fallbrook sixth-grader who participated in the Don Dornon Games during the morning was available for the subsequent rugby matches, so Duncan and Padilla joined the under16 squad for their contests and the under14 girls had eight players for their final three games.

Fallbrook’s under14 girls began play with a 17-5 victory over the Empire Rugby Club team from Colton. The game’s halftime score was 12-5. Emily Weber had two tries, Padilla scored one try and Julia Tippin kicked one conversion.

Next, Fallbrook faced the under14 team of South Bay, which is based in Carson, and leveraged a 19-5 halftime lead into a 46-5 victory over Spartan Youth Rugby from Poway.

“That was a good game,” Pinnell said.

A.J. Haughey scored five tries against South Bay.

“She was just on fire,” Pinnell said.

Tippin added two tries and Trina Rizzotto scored a try. Jane Ballis kicked three conversions.

“It was a pretty good team game,” Pinnell said.

A 34-5 victory over the Belmont Shore club from Long Beach was the result of Fallbrook’s next match. Fallbrook held a 15-5 lead when the halftime whistle was blown. Haughey and Tippin scored two tries apiece, Ballis had a try and two conversions and Liberty Benitez scored a try.

Fallbrook’s under14 girls concluded tournament play with a 36-12 victory over Fullerton Rugby which included a 14-5 halftime cushion. Benitez had two tries and a conversion, Ballis scored one try and kicked two conversions and a try apiece was scored by Haughey, Tippin and Weber.

“It was a pretty tight little group,” Pinnell said. “They did well.”

The under16 Fallbrook girls began with a 38-0 triumph over Poway in a game which included a 24-0 halftime score. The availability of Duncan and Padilla for the under16 team resulted in Duncan scoring two tries and Padilla providing one try and three conversions. Alexis Losse and Aurora Meyer scored a try apiece. If a penalty try is awarded, the team automatically scores seven points and no conversion kick is necessary, and that call was responsible for Fallbrook’s other points.

The San Diego Aztecs club had only an under16 team and did not field an under18 squad or an under14 entry.

“They were a strong team,” Pinnell said.

Fallbrook trailed the Aztecs by a 10-7 margin at halftime and lost what ended as a 20-14 contest.

“That was a blow,” Pinnell said. “We felt we had a good squad to get over that hump, but we weren’t able to.”

Padilla had one try and kicked two conversions. Marley Parkinson scored Fallbrook’s other try.

“That was the first loss for the girls all season,” Pinnell said.

The loss could provide lessons for the Fallbrook players.

“I think they’ll be stronger next year,” Pinnell said.

The under16 team closed out play against Belmont Shore. The score was 26-0 in Fallbrook’s favor at halftime and 41-0 when the final whistle blew. Parkinson crossed the try line three times, Padilla scored two tries and three conversions and Shelby Tippin had two tries.

The under18 game involved 70 minutes of play or 35-minute halves. Fallbrook took a 7-0 lead on a try by Morgan Bitner and Abby Savin’s conversion kick. South Bay scored a try and conversion to create a 7-7 score. Bitner scored another try, and Savin kicked the conversion to give Fallbrook a 14-7 lead.

The Spartans scored the final three tries of the first half and held a 22-14 lead entering the break.

“Toward the end of that half we lost two players to injury, so that didn’t help,” Pinnell said. “That’s probably what changed the dynamics a little bit.”

Outside center Savannah Simmons tore her anterior cruciate ligament, and Fallbrook lost fullback Sammy Stern when a knee to her head resulted in her removal from the game due to concussion protocol.

The under18 Warriors began the game with 22 players, so even with the injuries to the two starters Fallbrook still had five substitutes.

“At halftime we were still there, had a good chance of finishing it off,” Pinnell said.

South Bay had more than 25 players on the Spartans’ under18 squad, and the depth advantage resulted in South Bay scoring all 17 second-half points.