John Paul College first XV created history for their school, winning the Bay of Plenty division one secondary schools title.
In a fitting grand final, JPC won the tight tussle with Trident High School 15-10 on Paengaroa Domain at the weekend.
Both teams brought plenty of vocal support to the small Western Bay settlement to help fire the teams up.
Both sides looked to find dominance in the forwards with ferocious contests outside the ruck and eventually the game would come down to two small errors by Trident which would seal JPC's first division one title.
From their kickoff, Trident tried to keep JPC pinned inside their own half, looking to capitalise on any mistakes.
The mistake came within the first few minutes, when the Rotorua side were penalised for taking to long to set a lineout, 45m inside their own half.
A number of JPC supporters were surprised when the Trident captain and kicker Cameron Watkins pointed to the posts. It even caught the young chap holding the kicking tee off guard, who took several moments to run the tee out to Watkins. At near on 50m on the angle, Watkins line was fine but his range was found wanting.
However, the second-five would nail a 48m blinder a few minutes later to open the score for Whakatane.
Trident used their big props, Hamiora Cossey and Manuel Manuel, like battering rams on the JPC defensive line but the Rotorua side soaked it up, using aggressive defence to try and subdue the barrage.
The majority of the first half was played in between both sides' 22, with neither really threatening to break free.
A rare jaunt into Trident's 22 gave JPC their first chance to put points on the board, after referee Shane McDermott pinged Whakatane's backs for being off-side. JPC halfback Petelo Kelemete had no trouble kicking the penalty.
With neither side looking like gaining dominance through attack, it came down to pressure and JPC seemed to be able to apply it at the right time.
When JPC managed again, to get down inside Whakatane's 22, a poor clearing kick by Trident soon had the side scrambling and fumbling the ball. Blindside flanker Joseph Keenan chased hard and kicked the ball through and his teammate, second-five Tremayne Watson scooped on the ball and ran 15m to score right on half time. Kelemete made easy work of the conversion to send JPC into the break 10-3 ahead.
The first 15 minutes of the second half appeared to be all JPC with their bigger loose forward trio, Joshua White (openside) and Jack Bird (No 8) playing a vital part in the team's go forward. Both White and Bird showed pace and power in open play but weren't afraid to get their hands dirty in the tight stuff as well.
With about 10 minutes left, Trident went to their impact players on the bench. The changes lifted the side who started to get more possession and drove JPC back down into their own 22 for the first time in the second half. Trident put the Rotorua side under pressure and came away with a great forwards' try to Cameron Rio-Kumeroa, which was converted by Maia Westsrupp to level the score.
Trident supporters sensed an upset and the shouting and cheering was deafening. But JPC maintained composure and moved into another gear.
It appeared they ran with more urgency and hit the line harder. When Trident were penalised in front of the post it seemed, the game was over. But a rugby ball can do funny things and when Kelemete's kick ricocheted off the crossbar and a JPC player knocked the ball on. It was the Rotorua supporters turn to become nervous and worry about a fired up Trident side.
But, with Whakatane bringing the ball out of their danger zone, they were unable to secure a bobbling loose ball and JPC pounced on it passed it to a rampaging White who broke a tackle ran 30m to score and give JPC a well deserved 15-10 win.
John Paul College captain Logan Norman said it was a proud moment for him and the team. "We [the team] are pretty proud. It's a privilege to be in a team that makes history. It goes up on the wall [at school]. It was awesome. We put a lot of hard work in at practice and we came away with a win."