The Los Alamitos HS Boys Varsity Rugby team remains undefeated as they head into the playoffs as the top seed for the SoCal Youth Rugby Finals. The team hasn’t played 15-a-side rugby since 2019 thanks to the COVID pandemic. They are being coached by founding member & alumni of the club who is also a former Lindenwood College player Dylan Ramirez.
Here are some key notes from Friday’s match vs San Clemente in which Los Alamitos won 45-17, as supplied by the administrator of the Los Al Rugby Club.
Freshman Manoah Faupusa was a very big threat going up the middle, sucking in the defense allowing space to be created out wide. He had multiple line breaks.
Freshman Lenny Ibarra disturbed the ball very well, recognizing the space and capitalizing on it, as well as an interception taken back for a try. He mixed up the attack with kicking to keep the defense guessing.
Another Freshman Jordan Lauago played very well the whole game; defensively very sound and was a key component to shutting down the outside with his line speed and solid tackling. On one attack he was just as lethal of a threat with multiple 50-yard runs getting the defense on the back foot and allowing the attack to prosper.
Sophomore Max Amasio was a great runner in the wide channel as well as up the middle. He had a very successful stiff arm that the defense couldn’t get past and had several line breaks for 20 yards plus.