Having to play a team once is tough enough, but having to not only face the same team twice, in the same day can have its complications. In the final match at the Pacific Coast Sevens Qualifier between the Utah Warriors and San Francisco Golden Gate (SFGG), players and coaches all knew a lot about one another. However, Utah stuck to its game plan and used the second half to tire out SFGG 47-26.

In the first game, Utah used a conversion on their second try to sneak past SFGG 12-10. In second game, however, all slates were wiped clean and any animosity toward each other amplified. Both coaches knew what they had to do; it was just a matter of executing it on the pitch.

SFGG did what it had done the previous game by getting off to a quick start. Minutes after the opening kickoff, SFGG had managed to pin Utah behind the 22-meter line. A stingy Warrior defense delayed the first points of the game, but SFGG eventually found a seam and took the early lead 7-0.

Having been in its fair share of close games all day, Utah once again utilized a quick backline off a penalty to break the SFGG defense and tie the game at 7-7. Then Utah took advantage of a quick lineout throw in got the ball out wide and decided to let Kisi “Maka” Unufe loose for another score to take a 14-7 lead.

Off the next kickoff, Utah used a combination of backs Mike Palefau and Unufe out wide off a beautifully executed delayed pass, to freeze the defender, and get a 14-point advantage 21-7 and gain a spec of momentum. However, SFGG shoved any confidence and momentum back in the face of Utah by ripping through the middle of their defense to neutralize any Utah momentum temporarily at the half 21-14.

In the second half, Utah, without one of their fastest players in Unufe (ankle injury), still took some risks. It started with a run up in the middle, in similar fashion to the SFGG run before the half, and quick counter step to alter the defender en route to a score and another 14-point advantage 28-14. But, SFGG yet again found a way to counter with a run on the outside by back Danny Barrett to get back within seven at 28-21.

This time, however, Utah took yet another weapon from their arsenal. With Unufe out, the Warriors called upon Mike Palefau to take over and he didn’t disappoint. With a little more than three minutes remaining, Palefau got the ball and right when his teammates on the sideline said “finish it Mike,” he used quick and strength to get through the middle of the SFGG for his first score. Seconds later, Jason Pye took the ball off a penalty, punted it over the defense and jumped on the ball for a score and the exclamation point to ice the game at 40-21. “I just saw a perfect spot behind the defense and decided to grub it over the line,” Pye said. “I was fortunate to get a good bounce and be able to score.”

To cap off the win, Palefau used a couple of juke moves to halt three SFGG and run past three SFGG for his second score and a finish to a strong performance.

“We played loose and were able to beat a great opponent in SFGG and I’m really proud of the guys,” Pye said. “Mike (Palefau) and Maka showed a lot today. Mike has continued to make a case for being one of the best players in the country and Maka is a young talent that has nothing but greatness in his future.”

“This program is starting to do great things,” Utah’s Sean Whalen said. “Maybe not right now, but around 2012, this team is going to be crazy good, I’d put my house on it,”

Utah went 5-0 and outscored opponents 158-48.

It’s been said before that some of the best matches happen when rivals collide. Whether it’s because of the team’s battle history, unfinished business or straight up hatred; players and coaches always seem to want to take it up a notch or ten. At the Pacific Coast Sevens Tournament in Salt Lake City, San Francisco Golden Gate (SFGG) outlasted Old Puget Sound Beach (OPSB) 22-21 in their semifinal match.

SFGG got off to a swift start by taking advantage of their quick hands through the back line out wide. On a particular possession, SFGG made a switch out wide to cut it back in and before OPSB could recover, it was 12-0. OPSB, then, showed why they were one of the tournament favorites when Alipate Tuilevuka took the ball off the kickoff and raced down the sideline. In a matter of seconds, Tuilevuka dished the ball off to Isimela Daveta, who used his stutter step yet again, and was off to the races to make 12-7 at halftime.

“We know this team can hurt you in so many different ways with the players they,” SFGG captain Mose Timoteo said. “One mistake and they take momentum from you, we had to stay focused.”

The second half started much like the first, with a quick try by SFGG took the ball off the ruck from a penalty and squeezed past OPSB’s defense for a 10-point lead, 17-7. But, like any great rivalry, it’s not over until the whistle sounds. Over the next few minutes, both teams struggled to get anything going, and then OPSB got the ball out wide to back Pat Blair broke a tackle and outran two SFGG defenders to get his team with striking distance at 17-14 and provide a little emotional boost for his team.

Shocked, but not shaken, SFGG did what any team strives to do in their position, answer right back. Off a ruck, SFGG took advantage of a skinny weak side OPSB defense to win a one on one battle to go up 22-14 with less than a minute and half remaining. Still, OPSB had a little left in the tank and used it to set up Pat Blair, for his second try, off a switch from Daveta on the outside to outpace three defenders and get players and spectators back in the game for OPSB.

However, even with the kick going right down the middle of the posts, the whistle was heard throughout the stadium and sent a deflating wave over the OPSB sideline. Players were in disbelief and coaches were shaking their heads. The OPSB had found themselves in unfamiliar territory, at least over a four tournament period, and didn’t liking it at all.

“To play like we did against a solid opponent like Beach is a positive boost to our team,” Timoteo said. “It was a gutsy win.”