If you didn’t participate last year, make sure you come out this year. December 2nd and 3rd 2017 Chico Rugby will be hosting a second Atavus Training Camp at PV High School. This camp is available for male and female athletes ages 14+. Discounted fees are available now. Go to Atavus Rugby and find out more details and payment options. PLAY RUGBY!
This has been an exceptional year for Chico Rugby! All 4 teams that made playoffs are still going strong and looking to bring home their respective championships!
The Rugby Nor Cal Playoffs started on the weekend of April 22nd with the Chico Wild Oaks Girls High School team taking on the Berkeley Red Hawk Ladies in Chico. Tough match for the first 10 minutes, before the Wild oaks scored their first of many tries enroot to a 75-0.
Also on the day the Black Oak JV boys were pitted against a scrappy Elk Grove United Rugby Club. This was a back and forth match. The Black Oaks jumped out to a 30-point lead before Elk Grove woke up and almost got the match within striking distance, before the Black Oak backs put a try or 2 on the board to secure the win.
With these wins, the Wild Oaks will play for the Bowl Championship and the JV Black Oaks have earned the right to play for the Rugby Nor Cal Plate Championship in Stockton on May 6th.
The undefeated, Chico Black Oak Varsity boys have an extra step in their march to the Championship match. It all started with their quarterfinal opponent Vacaville Black Dog Rugby on April 22nd. This is a team that Chico has not beat in their early existence. The Vacaville squad is well coached by Brett Fortney, who, coincidently, played all 5 years of his college career at Chico State for the Black Oak’s coach, Mitch Jagoe. Vacaville came out and put up a couple tries but the Black Oaks responded, outscoring Vacaville and taking the W, 48-14 to remain undefeated!! This earned the right to go to Fresno to take on Buchanan Rugby Club.
Fast forwarding to Saturday April 29th, the Black Oaks where off to Fresno to take on an undefeated Buchanan Rugby Club who was very confident!! Our boys came out flat and went down 7-0 in the first 3 minutes. The next 6 minutes had the Black Oaks turning the ball over 6 times, but luckily never broke in our defensive structure. The boys settled down and put up 36 unanswered points! The back line, led by the direction of flyhalf Bryce Jagoe and fullback Jamarquez Abram’s 4 tries was just too much for the home team. The rest of the backs, centers Dino McKellar, KJ Martin, Efrain Perez and a collaborate effort on the wings by George Back, Gabe Galvan, Avery Herbert and John Mathis-Paoli kept the Buchanan team guessing where we were going to go next! The forwards, anchored by 8 man Devin Berger and Luis Alvarez dominated the match. With scrum halves Alex Saise and Nik White running the forwards, they ran tight off the break downs, wide and basically all over! Flankers Tanner Topp and Richard Tyner, along with lock Azul Gonzales and hooker Sutter Sullwold, continue to impress their coaches with their relentless pursuit of the ball both on offense and defense. In his first start of the season, Jeff Peterson played very inspired rugby filling in for Tyler Winters who had to move to prop due to injuries by other teammates. The Black Oak other scores were by flanker Tanner Topp, Bryce Jagoe and Alex Saise who made 3 of his conversion kicks to round out the 36 points.
With the win, the Black Oak varsity boys will play for the Cup Championship of Rugby Nor Cal. Their opponent will be Bellarmine College Prep out of San Jose, who just got a big win over Cougar Rugby from Sacramento. The Cup Championship will be played in Stockton on May 6th as well!
In addition to the Chico Oaks High School teams having so much success, the men’s club, the Mighty Oaks have been doing damage as well. With the most impressive season the Mighty Oaks have had since their National Championship season in 2002, the Oaks are undefeated and Nor Cal champs with a big win over an always TOUGH Colusa County Rugby Club last Saturday in San Francisco. Next up for the Oaks men is the Pacific North West Eugene Stags in the first round of the National Sweet 16. Luckily for the Oaks, this match is back in the bay area, on Treasure Island. Their kickoff is set at noon on May 6th. Good luck boys! Keep rolling!
We want to send a HUGE GOOD LUCK to all the Chico Oaks Rugby Clubs playing for the Championships next weekend!!!
Cheers,
Mitch Jagoe
Director/Head Coach
Chico Oaks Rugby Football Club
Chico State Women’s Rugby advance to Sweet 16’s after winning both of their games this past weekend during the DI Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference playoffs in Palo Alto, California.
Chico State faced Oregon Ducks Saturday, with a 27-26 win. The backs struggled with ball movement for most of the first half making it forward game. Two of the five tries were scored by Senior flanker, Lucero Cardiel, and prop, Rebecca Newlin. Due to an ankle injury, junior fullback, Darby McFall struggled to complete conversions but manages to make one fall, making it a one-point lead over the Ducks.
Chico State took on Washington State Sunday afternoon with yet again, another one-point lead, the final score, 22-21. Washington and Chico went back-and-forth in tries during the first half, however, McFall missed one conversion ending the half with a score of 12-14.
Washington State capitalizes in the second half and scores a try after a yellow card was given to junior outside centre, Stefani Bergerhouse. With just under five minutes left, Chico was awarded a penalty just outside the 22 and McFall lands her kick adding three points to the board.
With only a minute left on the ref’s clock, Chico down by six points, Washington continues to pick and jam near their 22, instead of finding touch. Washington’s scrum half gets it to the backs to go through the hands, but Chico’s defensive pressure causes a dropped ball that bounces into the hands of senior wing, Kayla Vasquez who scores her fourth try of the weekend.
With no time left, McFall completes the conversion adding two points to the board and ending the game in a huge one-point victory.
by Mitch Jagoe
For those of you that may have been associated with the Oaks rugby program for a while, may remember my weekend recaps. It’s been awhile since I have done one and it’s time to start. At least for this week……so grab a cup of, or a bottle of your favorite and sit back and enjoy.I want to start by sending a BIG THANK YOU to Rental Guys of Chico for the donation of the lift for filming and the chairs for the post-match social area!! If any of you are looking to rent something, PLEASE frequent Rental Guys of Chico on Nord Ave!!!
OK, during this past week’s rugby day, the Chico Oaks Rugby Football Club hosted both Mother Lode Rugby and Gridley rugby in U-10, U-12, Middle School Girls, Middle School Boys and High School girl’s rugby. Our Chico Black Oak JV and Varsity teams hosted the Christian Brother Falcons from Sacramento.
The day started with both the Red Oak middle
school boys and girls on the pitch. I had the privilege of being the referee of the first boys match, Chico vs. Mother Lode. The game was close throughout, but Chico prevailed at the end with great play from Chico ruggers, Dylan Jepson, Bryce Darlington, Odin Moddy, Colin Bailey, Julian Beeler, Colby Cramer-Hicks, James Webster and Zach Willingham! I think this group of guys has REALLY benefited from practicing with the Black Oaks. Well done boys! Receiving Man of the Match honors were Bryce Darlington and Zach Willingham.
The Red Oak girls had their hands full with a MS girls team from Mother Lode that were skilled and well organized. Our girls fought hard and came away with smiles on their faces! For Madison Hurd, Zoe Bauer, Riley Snodgrass, Isabelle Vallejo and Contessa Whittaker, another day of great rugby and comradery! It was a win, win! Contessa Whittaker and Madison “Mad Dog” Hurd were named the Women of the Match for the Red Oak Ladies.
Now the day gets fun. Any time you get the “ankle biters” on the pitch you are in for a good time….! Our U-10’s/White Oaks and U-12’s/Gray Oaks are a lot of fun and have turned in to fierce competitors thanks to Coaches Alex, Bill, Will and Jake! Each of these teams took it to their opponents on the day scoring lots of tries and smiling all the way to the post-match social! White Oak players of the match were Ben Buckshot and Cameron Hunter. Gray Oaks bringing home the honors were Joey McKellar and Solar Parry.
Our Wild Oaks girls high school team kicked off at noon and yours truly was yet again blowing the whistle and making sure the girls were safe and having fun! While the score wasn’t indicative of how hard fought the match was, all the girls kicked butt and played incredibly passionate! Your players of the match for the Wild Oaks were Sabrina Tuitele and Annika O’Connell.
Next up were the JV Black Oaks. I gotta tell you all, when the Christian Brothers JV team came in to the facility, my first thought was, “why is their varsity here so early?” Turns out, their JV team were just REALLY big. Our JV battled! This was the best match of the day. I think there were 3 or 4 lead changes and if not for a questionable yellow card and some inevitable cramps, our boys may have come out on top! The final was 27-19 to CB, but again, the Black Oaks showed once again their maturity not only in their level of play, but in a tough loss the boys bounced back and showed the true spirit of the sport in the sportsmanship while participating in the post-match social! Thanks to you all. I can’t wait until you are varsity Black Oaks!!!! Man of the match honors on the day went to Fernando Alejo and Ty Abrams. Good job gents, well deserved.
The final match of the day had a bit of revenge factor to it. Last year a very young Black Oaks team travelled to Sacramento to take on Christian Brothers. Let’s just say CB got the best of us…….!? To say the least! Today was a different story. CB was well organized and big and fast. My Black Oak boys played our game plan to PERFECTION!
Pick and jam when it was there, some strategic kicking, rucking, hard runs with good support and a desire to keep our winning streak alive! Given this was the one match that I was able to watch from start to finish, I could probably give you a play by play off the top of my head. I will spare you the details and just say the Black Oaks outscored CB 7 tries and 2 conversions to 2 tries and 1 conversion, making the final score 39-12. The Black Oak Varsity Men of the Match were our captains, Bryce Jagoe and Devin Berger.
Finally, although not in Chico, our Mighty Oaks men’s team travelled to Reno to take on the Reno Zephyrs. Big win for the Mighty Oaks as they came away with a 49-12 D-III victory! Next up for them is a date with a tough Redwood team!
On Chico Oaks RFC alumni note, our very own Matt Whitely, now a San Diego State Aztec rugger got his first time on the pitch today! Matt said he had some good runs and had a blast! SO PROUD OF YOU MATT! Keep up the good work!
Another Saturday of RUGBY in the books. It truly was a GREAT DAY TO BE AN OAK!!!!
Chico State Women’s Rugby brought back a huge win for the Wildcats in their first away game of the season against UC Berkeley with a final score of 39-5.
Junior outside center Stefani Bergerhouse scored the first two tries within minutes of the first half setting the momentum for the rest of the match. Junior full-back Darby McFall scored her first try of the game shortly after.
Although Cal was able to score once, the ‘Cats defense and offensive ball movement made it possible for senior wing Kayla Vasquez to score a try to end the first half.
With a 17-point lead to start the second half, the ‘Cats never let up their intensity with two more tries from Bergerhouse and McFall. The ‘Cats forward pack were able to pick up meters toward the end of the second half and senior prop,
Rebecca Newlin rumbled in for the last try of the half.
Even though freshman inside center, Hannah Westfall only converted 2-7, the ‘Cats were able to end the second half with a 34-point lead making their current DI Pacific Mountain West record 2-1.
The Holiday Classic Rugby Tournament will kick off with matches beginning at 9am on Saturday, Nov. 19th at PV High School in Chico Ca. This tournament is open to men and women clubs and collegiate teams. As in typical fashion we encourage all ruggers and fans to dress in your best holiday attire and join us for our after match UGLY Christmas Sweater Party at the famous Madison Bear Garden, “The Bear”.
We look forward to another spectacular day of hard hits and good times. If you are interested in registering your team for the tournament there’s still time. Contact Tournament Director Mitch Jagoe at (530) 521-5488 or email at mjagoe12@gmail.com, the more the merrier.
Happy Holidays, Cheers!
Thank you to all the volunteers, families and kids who came out to enjoy the greatest game on earth! A BIG thank you to CODE3 COFFEE and NORTH VALLEY BUILDING SYSTEMS for their generous donations towards our new U10, U12 jerseys! Another big Thank You to former USA Eagle COLIN HAWLEY who traveled to Chico to inspire and coach our youth.
We hope to see you on the pitch! REGISTER FOR OUR 2016/17 SEASON HERE. PLAY RUGBY!
The rivalry between the Chico Rugby Club and the Colusa Rugby Club goes back decades. It has been years since the two teams have squared off in a full match, that is all about to change on October 22nd at Wile Wood Park.
The two clubs both agree it’s time to bring back the friendly rivalry. Join us Saturday at 3:00pm for the match and social between to classic club.
Join us at the 2016 Parade of Lights in downtown Chico! Our Youth Oak Ruggers (all ages 7-18ys) take part in all the festivities, bed races, wheelchair rugby and walk to support our program in the parade. Contact us if you would like to participate or just come out and cheer us on.
We look forward to seeing you all at this years Parade of Lights!
Darby Mcfall named player of the week. This is her second year playing rugby and each game she gets better and better. Such a humble hardworking player. Congrats Darbs for making everyone apart of the Chico Rugby Family proud!
