Gonzaga defends against a hard-working Xavier side. Alex Goff photo.

The Gonzaga Eagles soared to a solid start in the Boys HS National Championships as they bested the Xavier HS of New York Knights 38-15 on their first game of the three-day tournament.

It was on a sunny day at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind., and Gonzaga ran out a relatively young side hoped to save some more experienced players for later. It sort of worked out that way, but Gonzaga was not able to fully shake Xavier, which had them in their sights before a couple of late tries sealed it for the defending national champions.

The young talents of Gonzaga navigated a back-and-forth contest, but Xavier put in a very solid performance of their own as the #8 seed.

"It's more survive and advance," Freshman Lock Jordan Strike said. "There's two more games [so] everyone has to contribute even if you're not the main guy."

Xavier went for an early penalty goal that missed and in fact after the ensuing 22 dropout Xavier was awarded a scrum and had another scoring chance. Gonzaga got out of that, punished a couple of penalties, and then put center Pierce McGlynn over for the first of his two tries.

Matthee Clifford, Giuseppe Boglione, and Mack Smith also got over, as did one more (unnamed). Flyhalf Kieran Downs converted four.

Looking ahead, Gonzaga faces St. Edward in the semifinals, while Xavier takes on St. Thomas Aquinas in the 5th-place semis.