There’s temptation to label 2020 as the “year of Covid-19” and add asterisks to the unorthodox competitions that might have played out or the teams that claimed those championships. But Ravenwood Raptors coach Richard Boone dismisses the notion when considering the Tennessee high school fall 7s championship, confident that his team would have dominated an unaltered field this year, and maybe even years prior.
Williamson County Schools phased in in-person schooling, so the Raptors were able to recruit and rostered 30 players for the Tennessee fall season. There was no uniform response for returning students to school, so some programs in different areas of the state experienced the opposite effect on numbers and disbanded for the fall.
“We were very fortunate and blessed that our numbers came together,” Boone said. “Normally in our little pocket in Tennessee, the Middle Tennessee Conference, we would have 6-7 teams. We were down to three solid ones and one other, so almost cut in half this fall. The east still had their teams but they didn’t have many girls’ teams to begin with. They got hurt in the West – that’s where Memphis is – where they usually have 4-5 more teams.”
Ravenwood was able to practice and play, but there was still an element of uncertainty that needed recognizing. Players could be quarantined at any moment, and that reality impacted the lineups.
“Throughout the fall, we never had the top seven on the field at the same time, because we wanted to build that continuity with the newer girls as they grew. That brought the level of everyone up,” Boone said. “We also have a former Ivy League coach [Marcus Gordon-Lewis] who’s helping the girls see the game in different ways. Once we put it all together, with our top 10 on the same team and our top 7 on the field, they dominated.”
Senior captain Dez Harmon leads the starting scrum from prop.
“She is a special lady,” Boone said. “She is tall, strong and has good pace for her body size. Every time she touches the ball, she’s going forward and making positive things happen.”
Haven Hawkins is the hooker and is looking at several rugby colleges, but the staff hopes she aligns with Queens University of Charlotte. Hawkins and Harmon are multi-year players, but fellow front row Kelsey Thomas is a first-year and broke into the starting line with a nice mix of power and speed. She’s the fraternal twin to Kaylen on the wing, and the sisters are gifted, natural athletes who incite a lot of excitement.
“The twins are track athletes and initially they said they wouldn’t be able to play spring 15s because they would be doing track then,” Boone said. “Then midway through the fall season, they said, ‘I think we could do both.’ Then by the end of the season, it was, ‘The track coach is making sure we can play rugby, too.’ … You get excited when you get that level of athlete who is falling in love with the game, because you know how special the college rugby experience is and it’s coming for them.”
Junior captain Stephanie Esmonde controls the game from scrumhalf.
“She’s been playing since middle school and has been killing it since middle school,” Boone said. “She was too rough and tumble for the middle school boys, which was co-ed when she was playing. We needed to sneak her up to the high school ranks as quickly as we could.”
Esmonde pairs with senior flyhalf Sophia Gaddis, who has a soccer upbringing and natural foot. Center Gwynn Campos joined the team after her home club, Spring Hill, was unable to field a squad this fall. Campos is quality and has represented the USA South as well as Atlantis. Kaylen Thomas is the finisher.
“With a little more mass, she can play for the USA,” Boone said. “She’s got the pace, the fearlessness, she can catch/pass. She’s a natural. Her sister, Kelsey, could be special, too. Every time she gets the ball she goes forward and does something good with it.
“They’re all good students and should be playing in college, and most of them are planning on it,” the coach said of the starting seven. “The biggest struggle I have with the girls is confidence – just believing in themselves. They would be playing at a whole other level if they had confidence that they made the right decision [on the field].”
The team has quality reserves in Abby Pillow, who started playing touch with her boyfriend’s team; Kel Branchflower, who in her first game last spring caught a kick-and-chase on the bounce for a 60-meter try; and Rachel Martelle, a soccer crossover with a good foot.
The fall 7s championship took place on Saturday, Nov. 21, and four teams competed in the Girls Cup: Raptors, Riverdale, Columbia Central and McMinn Tribe. Up until last weekend, the top seven players had not started a game together, and as the reserves rolled in, the experiment proved successful.
“I told my starting seven that we might only play three games in the championship,” Boone said. “That’s not a whole lot of minutes, so we needed to get up 3-4 scores and get some conversions before we could put the subs in. There’s obviously a difference between two players when one is a sub, but every single player on the field stepped up in the championship. Maybe the level dropped a little [with substitutions], but not so much that the defense wasn’t there or we couldn’t create on offense.”
The Raptors followed their coaches’ advice and scored often and quickly during an opening 34-0 win against McMinn Tribe. Columbia Central was next and the favorite heading into the final tournament.
“At any one time, Columbia has had 50 players. It was incredible,” Boone said of the Tigers’ legacy the last few years. “With those numbers, you’re always going to find 7-10 players who can really play. They have been the bar, but before that, it was us.”
The Raptors raced to a 31-5 win against Columbia Central.
“There’s a mental component,” Boone said. “We scored so fast and so quickly that we shocked Columbia. But even when we had four tries on them – we were up 24-0 at halftime – we wanted to wait for the subs, because they can score on you quick.
“They get so emotional. It’s kind of fun,” the coach added. “They don’t realize how well they’re playing and dominating in the match, but as a coach, you know. They’re just know they’re winning, but that’s now how we set them up. So it was fun for them.”
Boone was referencing the mixed-roster tactics from the season. Having the team progress together was more important than winning every game, and the Raptors dropped regular-season matches in pursuit of that goal. Junior captain Esmonde is a prime example.
“We did challenge her. ‘This is just a scrimmage. You don’t need to do everything. We need you to pass the ball more and let the other kids fail – let them learn,’ which is hard for her to do when she loves the game so much,” said Boone, who’s been coaching Ravenwood for 21 years.
During the final tournament, Esmonde struck the right balance of work rate, ball movement and individual attacks. The team ended with a 31-10 win against Riverdale to secure the fall 7s championship, and Esmonde was named MVP.
“Steph always plays that well,” Boone said. “She’s quick, physical, but it’s mostly her good decision-making that allows her to play faster. She is always around the ball; you can’t NOT see her. And it’s the way she sets up her teammates, too. Kaylen scores so many tries but she’s able to do so because Steph gets her the ball, and when she makes those breaks, she’s there to support and set her up again.”
Outside of the Raptors’ games, the matches were competitive. Columbia Central tied Tribe 15-15 and beat Riverdale 15-10. Riverdale finished third overall after its 17-12 win over Tribe. For the Raptors players, it was their first state championship of any kind.
“Our boys didn’t get a chance to rise to the occasion. Two starters were quarantining and another had a concussion,” Boone said. “You ask yourself, ‘What if we’re not in it? Well, it’s a Covid year.’ You use that when placating yourself. Ultimately, you can only play who’s in front of you. And I believe firmly that this team could have won it the past three years. This year the numbers were down but there was still quality out there.”
And Boone was taking notes. He’s the girls’ regional director for the Panther Rugby Academy, a USA Rugby-certified National Development Program, and is hopeful for 2021 fixtures. He’s scouting talent from the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and more, and readying U14, U16 and U18 teams to represent the South. When rugby is ready to return to full scale, the Raptors and Panthers will be ready.