(Salt Lake City) -- Reserve wing Brian Mehl scored a left-sideline try with 10 minutes left, propelling United to a 22-17 victory over archrival Highland and its first under-19 national championship.
Earlier Saturday, Xavier captured its fourth high school championship with a forceful 32-10 win over exhausted Gonzaga, which Friday lodged a memorable 17-15 semifinal upset of defending champ Jesuit.
Mehl's touchdown decided a game Highland tied just 4 minutes earlier, having erased a 17-0 halftime deficit. The comeback was the more remarkable for playing a man down after a 29th-minute yellow card, and enthralled a partisan crowd of 3,500, almost equally divided among the two local sides.
MVP center Jared Whippy tallied the U19 final's first 10 points on a converted try and penalty goal, while twin brother and midfield partner Joshua scored a converted try immediately after the 10-minute dismissal. United built its lead on superior midfield defense and counterattack.
But the yellow ironically sparked Highland, which drove to United's line and earned a pair of penalties as the first half wound down. Twice the defending champs ignored a chance at three points -- the second was admittedly wide -- and the latter tap move was held up by United's forwards, in what proved an important turnover.
In the second period, Highland, unsettled by a midfield injury, shifted its emphasis to forward play. Some 4 minutes after the restart the favorites scored an unconverted, shorthanded try by prop Moises Peraza. (The final comprised 35-minute halves.)
Then a third-phase score by Joshua Anderson, which featured the speedy pursuit and crisp service of halfback Sean Harwood, and replacement kicker Sam Brookham slotted a difficult sideline conversion to bring the count to 17-12. Highland reserve George Heimuli's try levelled the contest.
United roared back, each of the Whippys assisting Mehl's clincher, a blow that promises to live on in an intensifying rivalry. In this year's last meeting, Highland had come from behind to win 18-17.
Not on Saturday. Highland played the final minutes deep in United's 25 and drew a straightaway penalty with 2 minutes to go; but trailing by 5, the 19-time champ was forced to play a lefthand lineout. As in the first half, United's forwards turned the ball over, this time to seal a victory to avenging the 2009 and 2008 national title matches.
In the evening's opening contest at Rio Tinto Stadium, Gonzaga dominated the first 15 minutes but scored only 1 unconverted try, too little to discourage the New Yorkers. Wing Christopher Mattina scored twice before half as Xavier rattled off 22 unanswered points.
Winning setpieces, rucks and, most notably, one-on-one tackles, Xavier dictated the game virtually through the end of the second half. Backrowers Brendan Murphy, Adam Duignan, and unofficial man-of-the-match Joseph Corrado were slowed but rarely stopped, Corrado's strength particularly evident as a ballcarrier.
Second-half tries by Duignan and able flyhalf John Gearity stretched the lead to 32-5 with 20 minutes to play, before play turned ragged.
Still, the Washington DC school staked a claim to joining the 'single school' elite, having split a pair of regular-season matches with its Eastern seaboard rival and also felled Jesuit.
In Friday's tense semifinal, expert backline passing put wing Brian Leibold away for a late second-half try, converted from the sideline by Patrick Carter to topple the Sacramentans. As in the United-Highland match, a Gonzaga rallied a despite a yellow card, all the more crippling in a contest of 25-minute halves.
In London, Canada downed Al Caravelli's fresh-faced squad en route to the England 7s bowl title, but the Maple Leafs would need to reach this weekend's championship finals in Scotland to overtake the US. Sitting in 9th place, the Eagles appear likely to finish ahead of their North American rivals for the third consecutive season and retain 'core' status in the IRB's Sevens World Series.
United 22 Highland 17 (halftime: United 17-0)
United
Tries: Jared Whippy, Joshua Whippy, Brian Mehl
Conversions: Jared Whippy
Penalties: Jared Whippy
Ezra Hirawani; Talen Barney (Brian Mehl), Joshua Whippy, Jared Whippy, Jeffery Ott (Kory Sumsion); Josh Webber, Luke Mocke; Shon Curtis, Steven Livingston, Dallan arnes, Hata Puriri (Matai Araujo), Armand Overstreet (atthew Cooley), Dan Hubert, Zane Mendenhall, Saepele Tautu.
Highland
Tries: Moises Peraza, Joshua Anderson, George Heimuli
Conversions: Sam Brookham
Dion Stevens; Joshua Anderson, Tana Afeaki, Eric Pauni, Ed Moli (Brigham Tukokino); An Other, An Other; Moises Peraza, Levi Card, Douglas Ferris, Sam Brookham, Kesni Tausinga (Matt Jensen), Aaron Hanson (George Heimuli), Arawa Elkington, John Kacinski
Referee: Jem McDowall (Northeast)
Xavier 32 Gonzaga 10 (halftime: Xavier 22-5)
Xavier
Tries: Chris Mattina (2), Cameron McFeely, John Gearity, Ed Sullivan
Conversions: Ed Sullivan (2)
Penalties: John Gearity
Ed Sullivan; Steven Ruta, Dominic DeFalco, Joe Wolfer (Charles Guiraud), Chris Matina; John Gearity, Chris Petri; Thomas Boule, Patrick Nilsen, Michael Potter (Martin Freda), Cameron McFeely (Patrick O'Grady), Patrick Coleman, Brendan Murphy, Dadam Duignan (Michael Gorman), Joseph Corrado
Gonzaga
Tries: Brian Leibold, Jack McAuliffe
Jack McAuliffe; Brian Leibold, John Davis, Sam LaPaille, Patrick Carter; Matias Cima, Brian Savercool; Daniel Collins, Ian Combs, Conor Squier, Dylan Jones (Michael O'Brien), John Treseler, Kevin Lee, Anthony Oliverio (Connor Whitcomb), Gabriel Free
Referee: Phil Griffiths (Northeast)
Attendance (combined): 3,500