Benefiting from what coach Robert Joseph called "the intense experience" of playing in weekend events at Radford University in Virginia and then Charlotte, the Highlanders drubbed the Union Lions, 88-7, Saturday at Chapel Hill High School fields.

Perhaps more important than the margin of victory over Chapel Hill's opponent in the 2007 N.C. prep championship game, Saturday also marked the return of fourth-year regular Drew Zabor after a six-month layoff. The previous week Tony Gualtieri, also a fourth-year man, made his comeback after 12 months off following a knee injury.

"The return of these two veterans has really lifted the spirit in the team to a whole new level," Joseph said.

He noted that the Lions were without several key payers who could return this season.

"The score may be a bit flattering to us," Joseph said. "They did, however, stick to the task throughout; they took their loss like true sportsmen."

The Highlanders tried to reciprocate. They played their A side forward pack with the B side backs in the first half and switched in the second, playing A side backs with B side forwards.

"The dividing line between A and B is less than clear, which in itself is a measure of our progress," Joseph said.

Going an extra mile for the sport of rugby, Highlanders Aaron Strom, Jake Bobroff, Jeff Girman and Teddy Talisman played the entire game as Lions; Ian Fuller played for both teams.

Regardless, the Highlanders scored their first try less than 20 seconds into the match. The first seven tries all came from forwards. Captain Kieran Kepler ended up with three ties, Will Reily two, and Michael Pugliese and Alex Kiebe scored one apiece.

The backs then chipped in with the next seven tries: Drew Zabor scored a hat trick three in his first match back; Colm O'Reilly scored two; Zac Stamper and Jonathan Marshall each scored one.

Jordan Smith got one conversion and Graham Joseph got eight.

"Needless to say we are very happy with the performance from the whole squad," Joseph said. "The work in training, the learning and experience from Radford and Charlotte tournaments are paying off."

The Highlanders' roster will undergo another change next week, when Asher Thomas and Marshall leave for England to play for the USA U17 national team.