The Blue Jay Rugby team closed out the season with a third place finish in the state championship.

The Rugby team closed out the 2014-2015 season with a third place finish in the state championship and a record of 7-4.

Despite being undersized and battling injuries throughout the season, the Jays played tenacious, physical, and well-coached rugby.

Jesuit vs. St. Paul Wolves

On Wednesday, April 15, the Jays traveled to St. Paul’s to take on top-ranked and eventual state champion Wolves.

The Wolves capitalized on an early Jesuit turnover to go ahead, 7-0. The Jays fought back and marched down the pitch to even the match at 7. The score was tried by a Blue Jay with a preference for anonymity. Turnovers would continue to haunt the Jays throughout the match. The Wolves took advantage of Blue Jay miscues to open up a lead to 19-7 late in the first half. Jesuit showed their resilience by mounting a drive late in the half which ended in a try by Josh Mackles. The score closed the gap to 19-12 at halftime. 

St. Paul’s scored a try early in the second half to go ahead, 26-12. The Jays mounted an efficient drive and Josh Mackles pushed across for another try to make the score 26-19 with St. Paul’s still in the lead. Jesuit was managing to stay within striking range with an opportunity to steal the match from St. Paul’s. Jesuit continued to fight valiantly until the bitter end, but the Jays fell, 33-19.

The loss put the Blue Jays in a match for third place in state against the Mississippi Royals.

Jesuit vs. Mississippi Royals

On Saturday, April 18, the Jays ended their season on a high note with a win over the Mississippi Royals in Pan American Stadium.

The Blue Jays got an early wakeup call when an errant pass was intercepted by Mississippi and run in for a try giving the Royals a 7-0 lead. Faced with this early deficit, the Jays settled into playing the match on their terms. The Blue Jays capped off a long drive with a try by Dominic Carmello. The conversion was no good and the Jays now trailed 7-5. They quickly mounted another drive into the Royal’s side. Dominic Carmello then fought his way to another try and the conversion by Scott Derbes was good. Led by Carmello’s aggressive running, the Jays were now ahead to stay, 12-7.

Mississippi worked their way deep into Blue Jay territory when Matt Sevin came up with an interception and dashed 70 yards before being brought down by the Royals. The Jays took advantage of Sevin’s exciting play when Bryce Duffy crossed the goal for try. With a good conversion, the Jays led 19-7.

After a strong long run, Will Waguespack joined the scoring when he smashed across the goal to score another try. With a Derbes conversion, the Jays were now rolling 26-7. Once again, the Blue Jay defense kept Mississippi offense from getting anything going. With the ball back in Jesuit hands, the Jays mounted a long teamwork oriented drive which ended with a Josh Mackles try and a good conversion.  The Jays led 33-7.

Mackles scored another try after a Blue Jay drive, the highlight of which was a long run by Will Waguespack. The Blue Jays led 38-7. The Royals finally had an answer for the Blue Jays. They worked their way into the Jesuit side to put in a try to make the score 38-12. The Blue Jay back-ups then came in eager for a piece of the action. They mounted an aggressive drive and helped Josh Mackles score his third try of the match. The Jays ended with a 43-7 win.

Following the third place win, three Blue Jays were named All-League selections:

1^st team: Gabe Massey

2^nd team: Scott Derbes and Matt Sevin

Senior Josh Mackles led the league in scoring.