The Woodlands Youth Rugby club traveled to Kansas City the weekend of Feb.18 to play their first two ranked games of the season. The competition (St. Aquinas and KC Blues) was fierce however, The Woodlands played with heart, managing to come out on top against both teams. A great start to their season, but they are just getting started.

In their game on Saturday, The Woodlands Wolfpack began their journey against Kansas City Jr. Blues. The two teams lined up opposite each other and waited for the Woodlands to kick off. As soon as the ball was flying through the air, the Woodlands sprinted off the line. They intercepted the ball and quickly scored.

“We came out of the gates running, and definitely set the tone of the game in the first two minutes by scoring a tri” TWHS junior Steele Herndon said.

Within the first half, the Woodlands presented their skill by staying on top of the scoreboard with a 43-7 lead.

“Our ability to turn the ball over was on point, and we played for each other” Herndon stated.

The Woodlands ended the game with a staggering score of 76-19, with fly-half Cole Scharffenorth scoring 26 of the points.

On Sunday, The Woodlands played St. Aquinas. The athletes of each team prepared formally, and as the ball was kicked, there was a hint of animosity in the air. The game began with a different statement than the one prior according to Herndon.

It took the Woodlands almost 10 minutes to score their first try. The Woodlands had to deal with multiple things that would have brought down a normal team.

“Our team was plagued by a biased ref who took measures to handicap us,” Herndon said. “We lost a player in the first half due to a red card so we had to play with a player down for the rest of the game. We lost a second player to a yellow card, so we had to play with 13/15 players for 10 minutes,” Herndon said.

Even with the handicap, TWHS came out on top with a score of 26-10.

“It was overall a successful weekend. We had some tough competition but we managed to pull through” TWHS senior Ben Urbanoski said.

With these two wins, The Woodlands began their season declaring that they were there to make a huge impact, and return to nationals for a gold medal.

“We played well for our first two games, and if we keep playing at that level, then I believe that we have a good chance at winning nationals.” TWHS senior Lucas Corsico said.