OAKLAND CA-It takes place once a year, this year on a drizzling Monday night under the stadium lights, it is called the Battle Of Oakland, the annual derby between the only two boys high school rugby teams that reside in the city limits; Bishop O’Dowd and the Oakland Warthogs. Always a physical encounter this years affair did not disappoint; after an initial period of both teams probing each other for weakness, the Dragons kicked the door down at the end of the first half touching down 3 times right before the intermission to take a 17-0 lead. In the second half the Dragons stayed in control scoring two more times before finally leaking a late score to the Warthogs at the end. O’Dowd 8th man Josh Mannix had a hat trick and was chosen forward of the match by the opposition, along with Center Anthony James who touched down once after breaking several tackles as did Captain Jack Schirmer, who scored a superb try courtesy of a little “show and go” move. Kicker Enrique Moreno went 3/5 on conversions.
The teams have played the annual fixture since 2011, they play for the Battle of Oakland Plaque, an engraved trophy that the winning team gets to keep in its display case until the next one in a year’s time. The Warthogs lead the series 6 matches to 3. The 31-7 scoreline in 2019 would be the most lopsided affair in the fixture’s history.
“I am very proud of our seniors, its a great feeling to win a local derby, for such a beautiful trophy. Credit to the Warthogs they are young bunch that will only get better and better, we will have our hands full in years to come. ” -O’Dowd Director of Rugby Ray Lehner
The Men of the Match as voted by the opposition: L-R O’Dowd’s Josh Mannix and Anthony James with their Warthog counterparts.
O’Dowd Seniors Celebrate with The Battle of Oakland Trophy L-R Zach Schmidt, Tommy Hyland, Anthony James, Kieran Okada, Josh Mannix, Yidi Li, Jack Schirmer, Colm Connelly,Alex Mintz, Alex Berger, Luke Ionin
In a demonstration of fine sportsmanship both O’Dowd and the Warthogs pose for a postmatch team photo together.
O’Dowd Starting Line Up with interchange 1. E Moreno 2. J Knight 3. K Okada interchange Y Li @ 29′ 4. T Wood interchange A Wang @ 29′ 5. C Connelly 6. T Hyland 7. J Schirmer (c) 8. J Mannix 9. K Nguyen interchange K Joseph @ 68′ 10. S Convery interchange Z Schmidt @ 30′ 11. B Dunne interchange A Thornbug @ 15′ 12. A James 13. A Berger 14. A Mintz 15. L Ionin
Scoring Timeline 30:00 O’Dowd 8th Man Josh Mannix Try 5, Prop Enrique Moreno Conversion 2 32:00 O’Dowd Flanker Jack Schirmer Try 5 35:00 O’Dowd Center Athony James Try 5 Half Time Score O’Dowd 17, Warthogs 0 40:00 O’Dowd 8th Man Josh Mannix Try 5, Prop Enrique Moreno Conversion 2 60:00 O’Dowd 8th Man Josh Mannix Try 5, Prop Enrique Moreno Conversion 2 62:00 Warthogs Try and Conversion 7 Final Score: O’Dowd 31, Warthogs 7