SANDY — Highland and United swept two games apiece on Friday to advance to the anticipated all-Utah match-up final in the USA U19 Rugby Championship game this evening at 7:30 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Highland demolished Union County of New Jersey 38-0 and United, a Utah County team based in Alpine, made a statement by crushing Alpharetta Phoenix of Georgia by a 50-0 count.
In the second round, Highland polished off Belmont Shores out of Long Beach, Calif., 31-0, and United had no trouble defeating Katy, Texas, 41-6.
The first few minutes of Highland's match with Union County was plagued with penalties and turnovers, but Highland didn't wait long to get on the board at the 4:13 mark, with John Kacinski skirting the right side and crossing the try line.
"We took control early, and we played with energy," said Highland coach Larry Gelwix. "And that's what you want to see."
Highland's scoring tries were spread between six different players, with Edward Moli plowing right up the middle for the final score at 36:34 of the contest.
In the second match with Belmont Shores, Highland first scored with a power play up the middle, with Aaron Hanson packing the ball across the try line.
"This was a tactical game," Gelwix said. "We were able to isolate our players how we wanted. But this was a quality team."
In United's first game against Alpharetta Phoenix, Ezra Hirawani scored the first try and opened the floodgates. Joshua Whippy scored two tries and converted three kicks to lead the scoring.
Dan Hubert opened United's scoring against Katy, but Joshua Whippy finished strong, scoring the final two tries.
Coach Colin Puriri said he thought his team played better in the second game, but they committed an inordinate amount of penalties.
He said his team needed to "stop doing stupid things." He allowed that against a really good team, that would cost his team.
He was proud of his defense, which only allowed Katy six points.
"That is a credit to our conditioning," he said.
Snow Canyon competed in the high school division and lost a heartbreaker in the opening game to Charlotte Catholic out of North Carolina, 17-12. Snow Canyon put the first points on the board with only about a minute remaining in the first half. But on the ensuing kickoff, they fumbled the ball, and Charlotte ran it in to tie the score at halftime.
John Carty scored early for Snow Canyon, and they held a 12-7 lead for most of the contest. But Charlotte scored at the 42:00 minute mark and added a conversion and another late penalty kick for the final 17-12 score.
"Rugby is a game of mistakes, and good teams capitalize on other teams' mistakes," said Snow Canyon coach Michael Puriri.
Snow Canyon won its second game 18-5 over Westlake out of Austin, Texas.
In the U19 girls division, Salt Lake City's Lowland team meets Fallbrook, Calif., at 10 a.m. today. Snow Canyon plays a consolation game at 12:15 p.m.
e-mail: wjewkes@desnews.com