On April 26, Jesuit Rugby left it all on the field, going into by far their biggest game of the season, for the highest stakes yet. The players gave everything they had: blood, sweat, and tears. After much adversity and many ups and downs, the Jesuit rugby team brought home the state championship. For seniors Joey Nuchereno, Taegoon Kim, Edward Talatala, Martin Day, Roman Kimbrell, Chris Madonna, Matt Miller, Andrew Murphy, Billy Newman, Clement Njoku, Nick Pace, Chandler Park, Kenny Phipps, William Rudolph, Matt Slovak, Avery Tyler, and Cole Wilson, their Jesuit rugby career could not have ended on a better note.
The Rangers knew, going into playoffs, that they had a hard road ahead of them, but adversity did not stop them. Jesuit crushed the other teams, beating both St. Thomas in the semi finals and Round Rock in the finals by sizable margins. Garret Danna ’17 said, “It was amazing the way we played, when we stepped on the field, we were a force to be reckoned with.” These two games marked the end of a great season. Riddled with injuries, and facing the toughest competition yet, Jesuit went to battle in the state tournament. Head Coach Mattacchione also talked about the tournament:”We didn’t have a good history with either of these teams. But with our starting lineup, we were confident in our abilities.”
Jesuit began its playoff run against a very good St. Thomas team. Despite the fierce competition, Jesuit really performed well in the game, winning decisively 22-7. Chris Madonna and Martin Day absolutely went off against their opponents, being named to the All Tournament Team after the game. Day commented, “It was a great game, Jesuit really just game together and worked as one.”
After defeating St. Thomas and having a stellar 13-5 record, Jesuit still had the biggest game of the season left, the state championship against Round Rock. Round Rock had been touted as one of the best in Texas, but that didn’t instill fear in the Rangers. Ryan McHugh ’17 said, “We knew it would be a hard game, but we really gave it our all.” After all was said and done, Jesuit came away victorious, winning by a score of 23-14. This game was not decided by a few standout performances but by the way the whole team played. Michael Geisler ’17 recalled, “it was one of the best games we played all season, it was one of the greatest moments I have ever had on a rugby field.”
Make sure to congratulate the Jesuit rugby players on their phenomenal season and state championship if you see any of them in the halls!
