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Five Rugby PA HS Boys and Coach Jack Foley guide Atlantis to LVI Final

By JE, 03/10/16, 2:30PM EST

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The Atlantis U-18 team had a tremendous showing at this year’s Las Vegas Invitational, going 5-1 on the weekend with wins over several very strong teams from throughout North America. Atlantis is a representative touring side whose goal is to identify talented players at regional camps, teach the game of rugby sevens, and compete against the best competition possible through tours.

RugbyPA were well represented with 5 players and RugbyPA All State Coach Jack Foley leading the team. Congratulations to Alex Schlager (West Shore), Jayden Demmy (West Shore), Dondre Ross (Conestoga), James Jacques (West Chester) and Brandon Boon (Unionville).

The weekend opened up against the Upright Rugby Rogues, an elite rugby Academy based out of Toronto. The Rogues sprinted out to a quick 12-0 lead before Fox Harper, from Melbourne, Australia, took a quick turnover down the sideline for a try just before half. Recognizing the talent on the field and the work they put in at camp all week, the boys finally began to click, closing out the first game with a close 26-17 win.  Game two was another tough contest against the Rhino Rugby Academy, who consist of a combination of the best players from Northern and Southern California.  Rhino dominated possession, showed great pace and were very aggressive in the contact, but Brandon Boon, from Unionville, was able to capitalize on two turnovers and led Atlantis to 12-0 halftime lead. Two more tries in the second half helped solidify a 24-7 win.  Closing out a dominate 47-7 victory over the Washington Loggers, the boys were pleased to finish 3-0 on day one.

The knockout round was a grueling test of grit and fitness: Three games in less than two hours against the best teams in North America. The boys came out firing against the Eagle Impact Academy, which was essentially the U-17 National team, and built a 17-0 halftime lead, with tries by Jack Bradfield from St. Edwards, Ohio, and Alec Giakas from Archmere Academy in Delaware. Atlantis was lucky to survive the second half, as the U-17’s woke up and showed why they were in the quarterfinals, scoring two tries to none for Atlantis.  The semi-final game was against Atavus Rugby Academy, who in the quarters defeated the High School All-Americans.  Atlantis again came out of the gates to a 17-0 lead, shocking an Atavus squad that hadn’t given up more than 14 points in a game and 19 total throughout the tournament.  Learning their lesson from the quarter finals, Atlantis kept the pressure on for the final 7 minutes on their way to a 27-12 victory.

 The final, against a very fast, skilled, and well coached British Columbia High Performance Academy squad, saw Atlantis unable to continue the pressure for the final. Winning 10-5 at halftime, British Columbia was able to close out the game on their way to a 27-5 victory. The Atlantis staff are extremely proud of the effort of these boys over the course of our camp and tournament. They did an excellent job coming together as teammates, and should be proud to be the first American team other than the High School All-Americans to play in the final

Six rugby PA players were originally selected to the team: Alex Schlager (West Shore United) Jayden Demmy (West Shore United); Dondre Ross (Conestoga); James Jaques (West Chester); Brandon Boon (Unionville),and Danny Murray (La Salle - dropped due to injury). The remaining squad consisted of: Alec Giakas (Archmere Academy, Delaware); Jack Bradfield (St Edwards, Ohio); Owen Hundt, (St Edwards, Ohio); Fox Harper (PowerHouse Rugby, Melbourne); Harrison Barkham (Orlando, Florida); Justin Smith (Orlando, Florida); Jamison Quirk (Powerhouse Rugby, Melbourne); Royaal Jones (New Jersey Blaze)