Boys Final: Hamilton Boys’ High School vs Palmerston North Boys’ High School
In a rare occurrence, two losing finalists from 2011 had won the finals in the girls and mixed grade. Hamilton were the losing finalists for boys in 2011 and were up again a Palmerston North side who had beaten last year’s champions Rotorua twice on the way to the final.
With home field advantage, Hamilton were the clear favourites and after a cagey opening five minutes the first touchdown was scored by Hamilton’s Chey RIki-Hamana. Jordan Bunce was a captain of the Palmerston side and held most of the playmaking duties. He set up his team mate Jono Ihaka for their first touchdown.
Both sides traded scores with Legin Hotham and Blair Hannam bringing the scores level at 2-2 before Hamilton turned on the skill to score three consectutive touchdowns before halftime. Maire Martin grabbed two assists and one touchdown for himself. Bunce pulled one back for Palmerston to make the score 5-3 at halftime.
Palmerston Boys gave themselves hope with an early score to Grayson Tihema, but one down was as close as they got as Hamilton scored another four unanswered touchdowns. The intensity of Hamilton’s yardage game became too much for a tiring Palmerston side who had fallen away. A final touchdown to Regan Ware pleased the crowd near the end of the game as Hamilton became the national champions of 2012.
Final score and National Secondary School Boys Champions: Hamilton Boys’ High School 9-5
Last Modified on 10/12/2012 10:52