Schuylkill River pulled off the upset, and the Youngbloodz nearly did. Utah and Belmont Shore, champs of the Pacific Coast and Southern California, respectively, were the odds-on favorites in the Cup Semifinals. They had the Eagles, and neither Youngbloodz nor Schuylkill River had any. Well, as it turns out, you don't need Eagles to win at the Club 7s championships.

The Warriors opened scoring when Ben Nicholls, who scored three times in Utah's quarterfinal win over Marist, dotted down. But Schuylkill River's top playmaker, and perhaps the tournament's top try scorer (stats to be compiled after the finals) Greg Ambrogi responded with a pair of tries, putting Utah on its heels.

Down 14-7, Utah got the ball into the hands of Maka Unufe, who has been fantastic for them, and as he was screaming up the sidelines, attempting to penetrate Schuylkill's defense, Ambrogi delivered a big-time tackle, forcing a knock. Ambrogi and Unufe were hurt on the play, knocking both of their team's go-to players out of the game.

Schuylkill won the ensuing scrum, while their best player was being tended to still on the pitch, and swung the ball from one sideline to the other for a third try. The conversion was missed, putting the Mid-Atlantic champs up 19-7 at halftime.

To open the second half, the Warriors went a man down when prop Chet Blasucci was binned for a shoulder charge. Shortly after Schuylkill toed through the penalty, Nicholls picked up and errant pass and sprinted for his second try of the game, pulling Utah within three at 19-12. 

The Warriors had all the momentum, and Blasucci drew them closer when he crashed through for a try in the corner after returning from the bin. The difficult conversion was missed, and Utah trailed 19-17.

Schuylkill extended its lead immediately when Will Knipscher outran Utah down the touchline and scored. The conversion was missed.

Utah would get just one more possession after pushing Schuylkill into touch deep in Warrior territory. After multiple methodical phases orchestrated by Mike Palefau, the Eagle made a wraparound pass to a charging Nicholls who scored directly under the posts. The conversion attempt to force overtime was one Jason Pye has made hundreds of times before, about 10 meters from the tryline centered in the middle of the field. But this time, he shanked it right, and Schuylkill advanced to the title game 24-22 winners.

The second semifinal looked in the beginning like it was supposed to. Belmont controlled the action and put in the first couple of tries, one via Alex Ross and the other via Shalom Suniula, to take a 12-0 lead, which they'd carry into the break.

The Youngbloodz finally got on the board in the opening minute of the second half, when captain Nick Johnson carried multiple Belmont tacklers into the try zone, pulling the Minnesota team within seven at 12-5.

The score seemed to knock Belmont out of its comfort zone, and after back-to-back penalties, elusive Youngbloodz scrumhalf Nate Augspurger darted toward the tryline, drawing multiple defenders, and slipped a no-look pass to a charging Johnson. Ruck won inches from pay dirt, Garrett Bender plucked the ball and slammed it into the try zone. The conversion was good, drawing the Youngbloodz level with mighty Belmont.

Belmont sub Justin Boyd then made the play you'd expect of an Eagle at the club championships when he forced his speeding body into a would-be tackler, but kept the ball at arm's length, and slipped an offload to a charging Taylor Howden, who took in the game winner (final score: 17-12) with no time on the clock.  

Belmont and Schuylkill River meet in the Cup final at 4:30pm local time. Schuylkill's Greg Ambrogi is expected to play.

Schuylkill River being swarmed by OMBAC. Dobson Images

Youngbloodz with ball. Dobson Images

Denver trying to avoid the upset to Youngbloodz. Dobson Images

The first upset of day one saw Youngbloodz come back to knock off the Denver Barbarians. The Barbos, at Nationals for the sixth-straight summer, led 10-0 at halftime. However, Youngbloodz, in their first Nationals appearance, scored 12 unanswered points in the second half to win 12-10.

Denver seemed to have stolen possession from the Minneapolis-based team near the end of the game and looked poised to run out the clock, but a flagrant late shoulder charge from a Barbo forward gave Youngbloodz possession again, and shortly thereafter, captain Nick Johnson busted through Denver’s defense and under the posts, lining up the game-winning conversion.

Schuylkill River, the only territorial champion in Pool D, also made an impression early on, nearly blanking OMBAC 24-5. The MARFU champs didn’t have any Belmont-esque blowouts, but they did go 3-0 playing patient defense and opportunistic offense.

“A lot of time they had the ball like 20 times in a row and we finally took it and went 90 yards for a try,” said Schuylkill’s top try-scorer Greg Ambrogi. “Just getting each other’s back was huge, and it’s tough when you’re playing defense the entire time, but we pulled it off.”

Despite being the only TU champ, few likely saw Schuylkill River as a threat entering the tournament, which they fed off.

“I feel like some people knew about us, but we were definitely still an underdog, especially coming out of MARFU,” Ambrogi added. “Besides NOVA, a lot of MARFU teams haven’t performed well out here, so we came out with a chip on our shoulder that we had to just prove that the best team in MARFU can compete out here.”

Finishing second in Pool D was Youngbloodz. In their first Nationals berth ever, they’ll still be playing for a Cup title on day two.

“It’s a great honor to be here and to get to this point,” said Johnson, whose played for the Youngblodz since the club was started five years ago.

“We just came here with the expectation of seeing what kind of level of p’ay was at Nationals and trying to come up to that level, and we’ve had a good couple of matches against the Lions throughout the season, so we knew that level was set, and it turns out they’ve brought us up to the level we are.”

If Youngbloodz wants to continue the Cinderella run, another step up is necessary, as the Exiles await them in the quarterfinals. Lining up across from Schuylkill River is Middlesex. 

Pool scores
Schuylkill River 24-5 OMBAC
Youngbloodz 12-10 Denver
Schuylkill River 21-12 Youngbloodz
Denver 10-5 OMBAC
Youngbloodz 21-5 OMBAC
Schuylkill River 21-14 Denver