Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Final-minutes try gives Warriors winning boys rugby record for season

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

A try with approximately two minutes left in the final game of the Fallbrook High School boys rugby season gave the Warriors a winning record for the season.

Raymond Chevarria scored the try which gave Fallbrook a 17-16 lead over Mira Costa High School of Manhattan Beach. The Warriors sealed the win with a turnover recovery in injury time and ended the season with a 5-3 record.

“We ended on a positive note,” said Fallbrook coach Sierra Arteaga.

In the first round of league play, Fallbrook defeated Cathedral Catholic in Fallbrook. The Warriors traveled to Cathedral for a Feb. 11 match and lost by a 72-10 score. “It was a tough match for us,” Arteaga said. “We just didn’t do enough to prepare ourselves for the second round, so it was a learning experience.”

Fallbrook’s sole loss during the first round of league play was at home Jan. 22 against St. Augustine, whose victory over the Warriors was by a 38-0 margin. The Feb. 19 game at St. Augustine was a 56-33 Saints triumph. “A much improved game,” Arteaga said.

The Saints had a 42-14 lead at halftime. “The first half wasn’t too strong, but the second half we outscored them,” Arteaga said. “I was very impressed and proud of the players.”

Fallbrook traveled to Mira Costa High for the Feb. 26 season finale. The Mustangs led by a 13-0 margin at halftime. Seven of those points were scored on a try and a conversion kick, and two penalty conversions accounted for the other six points.

In the second half, Fallbrook narrowed the gap to 13-7 when Thomas McSheehy scored a try and James Jones kicked the conversion. A try by Tyler Mendenhall brought the Warriors to within one point, although the conversion kick was not successful.

The Mustangs increased their lead to 16-12 on their third penalty conversion of the day. “We gave up too many penalties in our game,” Arteaga said.

The try by Chevarria gave the Warriors their first lead of the game. During injury time, Mira Costa had the ball approximately 15 yards away from the goal line, but the turnover preserved Fallbrook’s win.

“We saw ourselves with a winning record, which we haven’t done in about three or four years,” Arteaga said. “For us to defeat Cathedral Catholic, which we hadn’t done in eight or nine years, and have a winning season is definitely a step in the right direction for the high school program.”

 

Reader Comments(0)