With the first rain of the season came the first true rivalry football game between Cal High and Dougherty Valley.

The Wildcats, which joined the EBAL this year when the league expanded to 11 schools, hosted the Grizzlies Oct. 14 in the San Ramon schools’ first of many faceoffs in league.

The game seemed to be predictable, with the Grizzlies winning in a 42-0 blowout. 

But the Wildcat fans still held onto some hope of winning the first gridiron battle of San Ramon by chanting and encouraging their team on through the duration of the game. 

It was quite obvious that Dougherty students were hoping for a win, especially since it was their homecoming game. But it was not to be with these two teams headed in different directions.

Outside of the action on the field, much was going on at the game that had to do with the newfound rivalry.

Administrators from both schools spent much of their night keeping students separated to their respective stands. At one point, a Dougherty administrator was seen escorting three Cal students away from the home side back to the away bleachers where they belonged.

Dougherty students had some different views regarding the new cross town rivalry.

Freshman football player Josh Downton had mixed feelings toward the new rivalry between the two schools since he played with many Cal students growing up. 

“It’s awkward seeing them wearing another jersey,” said Downton, whose teammate Justin Nery found the new rivalry to be exciting and a nice change.

“I know a lot of kids from Cal too,” Nery said, “and it’s fun to see them in different jerseys.”

Both Grizzly fans and players were thrilled with the win. 

Senior Christian Laughlin was happy with what happened that night and enjoyed playing a new team that consisted of people he knew and played with growing up.

“A lot of teams in the past have wanted to play Dougherty, and the fact that we have the opportunity now to play them is a really big thing,” said Laughlin. “I played with a lot of those guys back then and even though it was a shutout, I had still had a great time playing against them.”

Now that an official “rivalry” has been established between Cal and Dougherty, surely the tension will continue to build as these teams continue to play each other in the future.