It's all in the family for High School Champions Dixon
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Dixon High School Rugby Club from Dixon California has only been in existence since 2006, and in that short time have built a team that can now be called National Champions. It's also a team that has become something of a family business for Head Coach Rob Salabar and his two sons Anthony and Nick.
Dixon starting Fullback Anthony Salabar tallied 23 points today, scoring three tries en-route to Dixon's 48-11 demolishing of Penn High School (IN) to win the Emirates Airline USA Rugby Boy's High School National Championship.
Anthony Salabar is also the younger of Coach Salabar's two sons who have played for Dixon. His older brother Nick starred for Dixon last year, and just completed his freshman year at the University of California.
It was Anthony's time to shine however as he dominated every aspect of play for Dixon. It was a performance worthy of the MVP trophy he was awarded by the High School All-American staff, a team he was selected to a March tour of England.
It was Penn who got on the board first in this match, kicking two penalties in the first 10 minutes through Nathan Vincent. It would be 50 more minutes until Penn would get on the board again when #4 Jack DeLuca dove over for a try.
Penn ran a forward oriented attack for most of the game, using the size and athleticism of Prop Shawn Wagner and Dylan Heyvaert, both of whom also have High School All-American Experience. The Dixon defense held in the forward pack however, and their backs shut down nearly any opportunity for the Penn Backs.
Other try scorers for Dixon include Nolan Williams who ran extremely hard at Inside Center putting two tries on the board. Early in the first half, Flyhalf Kyle Riley had trouble connecting with his outside support, but once the passes started to reach Williams, he was determined to find the try line.
Dixon beat two other powerful teams in Snow Canyon (Utah) and Xavier (N.Y.) to advance to the Championship.
Dixon 48
Tries: Salaber (3), Bonovich Williams, Rico
Cons: Salaber (4)
Penn 11
Tries: DeLuca
Pens: Vincent (2)
