Detroit Catholic Central Repeats as Rugby State Champions After Dramatic and Confusing Finish
ANN ARBOR, MI - Detroit Catholic Central claimed the Division 1 State Championship on Saturday following one of the most dramatic and controversial finishes in recent Michigan high school rugby history.
Rockford opened the scoring with the game’s first try, but Detroit Catholic Central responded with three consecutive tries to take a 15-5 lead into halftime.
The Rams fought their way back in the second half, matching Detroit Catholic Central score for score before tying the contest at 22-22 to force overtime.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the extra period. Detroit Catholic Central regained the lead with a try before Rockford answered once again, knotting the score at 27-27 and sending the championship to a penalty kick shootout.
Neither side converted its opening two attempts. Detroit Catholic Central then became the first team to successfully make a kick. Officials immediately signaled the end of the match and awarded the State Championship to the Shamrocks.
The conclusion created confusion among players, coaches and spectators. Many of whom believed the shootout would continue through five rounds. Following the match, Rockford Rugby released a statement alleging that both teams had been informed prior to the shootout that five kickers from each side would participate. According to the statement, a rule change adopted by the Michigan Youth Rugby Association allowed the shootout to end once one team held an insurmountable advantage.
Rockford further stated that the officials were unaware of the rule change during their pre-shootout explanation and expressed frustration with how the championship was decided. As of publication, Detroit Catholic Central and Michigan Youth Rugby had not publicly responded to Rockford’s statement.
My Opinion: While the result will stand and the officials ultimately applied the rule as written, the ending highlights a broader issue with how postseason matches are decided. Personally, I am not a fan of state championships being determined by penalty kicks. After more than 70 minutes of rugby including overtime, it is difficult to see a title decided by a kicking contest rather than open play. The rule was followed, but the confusion surrounding the finish and the reaction from both sidelines suggest the current tiebreak procedure may deserve further discussion moving forward.
Regardless of the controversy surrounding the finish, the championship match itself delivered a memorable contest, featuring a Rockford comeback, overtime drama and a state title ultimately decided in a penalty shootout with Detroit Catholic Central leaving the 2026 Season as back-to-back Division I State Champions.
There is further context that is missing in this story - the OT kicking format was set by the on field officials with both team captains, it was explained to be a "best of 5" format, both teams agreed and went back and set their kicking order strategies. after 2 rounds - the head of Rugby Michigan stopped the match and declared DCC the winner. The video is available on you tube - at the 1:55:15 mark, the DCC second kick attempt is made - and as the Rockford player is preparing to set up to try his attempt his attempt, Dan Lafond from Rugby Michigan enters the video and waves off the game and "declares" DCC the winner.