By Jose Terlaje

Clear skies and a very hot sun prompted numerous families to set up their EZ-Up canopies down at the Governor’s Complex in Adelup as they prepared to watch their young athletes face off in the weekly middle school rugby matches.

The matchup between Bishop Blue and St.Paul Warriors 1 turned out to be a thriller with the two teams trading leads throughout the match. Bishop Blue ended up coming out on top with the 24-21 victory after a last minute score.

The Warriors’ defense looked like it was going to hold it down till the end of the match until Bishop’s Carlo Bordallo received the ball with just seconds left and ran it from the middle of the field to the sideline, outrunning a number of defenders and then leaving one frozen in place after an amazing fake pass that gave him the space to run all the way down the field, scoring the game winning try as the clock ran out. The conversion after was good, giving Bishop Blue a 24-21 victory over St.Paul Warriors 1.

Obispo Carlo Bordallo fools the Warriors defenders with a fake that had the entire field buzzing. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

At the start of the first half, the Warriors applied the defensive pressure after the kick-off, forcing a quick turnover. The Warriors took advantage of the turnover and burst through an unprepared Bishop defense, putting themselves on the board after a quick pass from Isaiah Nacalma to teammate Shawn Sablan. The conversion kick after the try was good, giving St.Paul a 7-0 lead.

Upon receiving the kick-off after the score, Bishop Blue tried to strike back with good runs from Jose San Nicolas and Carlo Bordallo. Turnovers from both teams would occur frequently though, keeping the game at a standstill. Later, a penalty forced a scrum in favor of Bishop, who capitalized on this possession, passing the ball down the line to Bordallo who ran 15 yards down into the try-zone to score. Bordallo’s try would only cut St.Paul’s lead after a failed conversion kick, making the score 7-5 with the Warriors still leading.

Moments after Bishop kicked it off to the Warriors, Bishop’s Spencer Guzman added a try of his own to help the Obispos. After picking up a poorly thrown pass by the Warriors, Guzman sprinted into the open space and beat every defender, running 40 yards down the field into pay dirt untouched. The conversion kick was unsuccessful but the try was just enough to give Bishop the 10-7 lead.

Warriors Brandon Miranda puts the speed on after shaking free from an Obispo defender. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

The Warriors got the ball back, with Brandon Miranda and Hayato Tsujii bringing the ball down the field for their team but could not get anything going after consistently being trapped by Bishop defenders. The Obispos tried to move the ball down the field after regaining possession but a bad pass was picked off by St.Paul’s Nacalma, who ran the ball in for the try. The conversion kick after the try was good and St.Paul regained the lead ending the first half with a score 14-10.

In the second half, Bishop wasted no time to get the lead back with San Nicoals running the ball in after a good pass to the outside from Liam McManus. This time the Bishop was able to score on their conversion kick, giving them a 17-14 lead.

A good portion of the half seemed like both teams lost their offensive rhythms, giving up many turnovers until late in the half when St.Paul’s Nacalma picked up another bad pass from the Obispos and returned it 50 yards for the score with time running out, giving his team a 21-17 lead after a good conversion kick. With just a minute left, the Obispos went into desperation mode, doing everything they could to get the ball down the field.

Complete Saturday Results

Bishop Blue 35, St. Paul (2) 7
St. Paul (1) 47, St. Francis 21
Bishop Silver 24, SCA 21
Bishop Black 52, Bishop Gold 0
Bishop Blue 24, St. Paul (1) 21
St. Paul (2) 40, Bishop Silver 7
St. Francis 24, Bishop White 14
SCA 28, Bishop Gold 7
Bishop Blue 36, Bishop Silver 0
St. Paul (1) 43, Bishop White 0
St. Paul (2) 21, Bishop Gold 19
Bishop Black 54, St. Francis 21
SCA 19, Bishop Blue 14

PHOTO GALLERY:

Obispo Christian Taitano side steps to evade a Warriors defender. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

(photo by Robert Balajadia)

(photo by Robert Balajadia)

Obispo Ruben Leyba digs in to begin a sprint to the outside. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Obispo Spencer Guzman gets held back while trying to break free for a score. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Obispo Jose San Nicolas powers through three defenders before being forced to pass. (photo by Robert Balajadia)