Tennessee High School Rugby

Metro Memphis Wins State Rugby Championship
Metro Memphis 14, Ravenwood 10

Metro Memphis Wins State Rugby Championship

Bowl Final
May 14th, 2006
Metro Memphis 14, Ravenwood 10

The Metro Memphis High School boys clinched the Tennessee High School Rugby State Bowl Championship by besting Ravenwood H.S. by a score of 14-10 in the championship match of the Tennessee High School Rugby State Bowl Championships. The tournament was held in Brentwood Tennessee, and sponsored by Tennessee High School Rugby. Metro Memphis is a second year team and Ravenwood is in their 1st year.

Metro Memphis reached the championship round by beating the Brentwood High School B side 25-12 in the semi-finals, while Ravenwood moved into the finals by defeating Karns of Knoxville 26-10.

Metro Memphis unleashed a punishing defense anchored by their front row of Chris Cole, Jason Dawls, and David Bosher, and followed with a slashing offense led by Tournament MVP Matt Lovelady. Lovelady was perhaps the fastest player in the championship round and made his presence known early when he ripped off a 70 meter run that was barely stopped by the Ravenwood Fullback.

Ravenwood High School held their own and scored two unconverted Trys. In the closing minutes of the match, trailing by a mere four points, Ravenwood pounded the ball repeatedly within scoring distance of the Metro Memphis Try Line, but hard nosed tackling, and a well executed kicking game by Memphis held the Ravenwood Raptors scoreless.

Scoring for Metro Memphis was led by Mat Lovelady with two Trys (10 pts.), and Jai Thorndon with two conversion kicks (4 pts.). Ravenwood scores were by Bradon Binkley, and Jamie Wilkerson, each with a Try (5 pts. each).

This is a Cinderella story for Metro Memphis. Coach Robert Hughes revealed "when we started practice last year, we didn't even have a rugby ball to practice with." It leads you to wonder how good they would be with the proper equipment.