(Read about the history of this historic matchup here, and a related personality profile on one of the varsity football athletes here!)

Flyers decorated the trimming of the weathered stands. Parents and siblings, clad in red, black and white, hands filled with flyers of their child’s unmistakable jersey number, filed past the student section and into their seats on the home side. The bright, green turf, just recently painted and refined, trembled from the thunder of the synchronized brass of the marching band. Trumping it all was the anticipatory rumble of sardine-packed students, laden in black and ready to watch their varsity football team defend their five-year win streak on the biggest game of the year; everything had come together by the 7:10 scheduled start time, all that was missing was the main event.

On the evening of Friday, September 15, Ayala varsity football took the field against Chino Hills High School in what has become one of the most highly anticipated events of the year for the Chino Hills community: Battle for the Bone.

Ayala, on home turf, received the ball and kicked it off to begin the game. It was within the first five minutes of the game that they were able to put seven on the board, a passing touchdown and extra point putting Ayala ahead early and the student section on their feet. They would find themselves erupting more than once in the gameplay that followed.

Another passing touchdown in the next few minutes following sent the sidelines into another frenzy, taking full advantage of their home field advantage, getting some early punches in and the electric start they needed to carry them the rest of the way. Chino Hills would take a swing of their own in the first quarter and score a passing TD to cut the lead in half.

The script would be flipped in the second quarter, with Chino Hills laying down two passing TD’s despite Ayala’s 10 yd rushing TD to start the quarter. By halftime, both sides were getting the electricity they anticipated from the matchup. Ayala was having fun, but they didn’t like that they had the same point total as the guys at the other end of the field. They were about to lock in.

After a pleasant intermission of twirling flags and echoing brass, the men in black returned to the field with a level score. In a matter of minutes into the second half, a 70 yd rushing touchdown got Ayala back up by seven and got parents and students alike to erupt once again, counting up each added point in synchrony with varsity cheer.

“Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight!”

The walls were, if not literally, closing in on Chino Hills. After not having prevented an advance by Ayala, senior Nick Lane was able to kick a field goal to extend the lead by three. Quickly, the back-and-forth trend from last year all the way up to the first half of this game had been turned upside down.

More defense miscues led to another field goal from Lane, and a 34-21 lead with nine minutes to go.

Not all hopes were lost for the visiting Huskies, however. A passing touchdown with 4 left in the quarter cut back the lead to six, a 34-28 score with the clock ticking towards a tight finish; or so we thought.

With only minutes left in the game and Chino Hills giving everything they had left in them, a 35 yd rushing touchdown extinguished most of those hopes. Ayala was back up by 14, and this time it stuck.

Players stormed the field for one last time, celebrating the fruits of their labor and the sixth straight downfall of their freeway rivals. Kneeling together at one end of the field, coaches addressed the team and reminded them of what was to come if they continued to play the way they did this game. A special appearance by Principal Diana Yarboi sent the boys into a frenzy, running to reach the bone trophy and pose for team pictures.

Though it felt like this was the final game of the biggest tournament of the year, it was still another Friday night under the lights leading up to what is looking like a successful season for the Bulldogs. They face Citrus Valley at their home turf this coming Friday, and Chino Hills will go back down Soquel Canyon to face Foothill at home. Their loss to Ayala represented their second of the year, spotting a 3-2 record going into week six.

For now, the talk of the town will be the obnoxiously brilliant streak the varsity football team carries into next year, where they will once again defend their title for the biggest game of the year: Battle for the Bone.

The victorious varsity football team with the bone trophy: