Bishop O’Dowd High School was probably feeling confident coming into it’s homecoming football game. The team had dominated the first game of the season, and the homecoming crowd was hoping for a similar performance.
Their opponent, San Francisco’s St. Ignatius High School, had yet to win a game, going 0-1-1 to start their season off.
The sellout crowd of 1400 packed into O’Dowd’s stadium for only the second night game in the school’s history–the lights had only recently been installed in school’s new stadium.
The Bishop O'Dowd stadium was sold out, it was only the second night game in the school history--the lights were recently installed.
The crowd was rowdy. The O’Dowd Dragons even smashed through at banner that read “Crush the Wildcats” as they entered the field to the roar of the crowd.
But the home crowd was quickly silenced, as the St. Ignatius Wildcats opened up a huge lead, scoring 21 unanswered points.
The Dragons refused to go down without a fight though, and rallied back to within seven points, thanks to running back Tyrone Ward, who scored both of the teams touchdowns.
But the Dragon’s rally stopped as quickly as it started, as Wildcats star running back Jacob Brisbane answered the Dragon’s Ward with a 76-yard touchdown run. Brisbane finished the game with 130 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
Not only did Brisbane shut down the O’Down rally, he also shut down the O’Dowd crowd. The only cheers left in the arena were those of the small-but-still-significant contention if St. Ignatius fans, who were happy to get their first win of the season.
For the full game story, click here.
Check below for an audio clip with fans, coaches, and players.
In order of their appearance:
Mikaela Johnson, a Bishop O’Dowd alumni and O’Dowd cheerleader
Jacob Brisbane, a St. Ignatius running back
Steve Bluford, St. Ignatius head coach
