‘Oakland’s got love for LA’: Castlemont embraces storied Los Angeles football team

OAKLAND –  If Dorsey looked like the home team during Saturday’s 20-0 victory at Castlemont despite playing hundreds of miles away from their Los Angeles campus, Ed Washington and his Knights’ hospitality is to blame. 

The year prior, Dorsey had shown Castlemont around the L.A area – the highlight being a trip to the Rose Bowl – and hosted the East Oakland team. 

Now it was time for the Knights to return the favor in the second edition of the “Neighborhood Classic” that pitted an Oakland Athletic League program against a team from the LA City Section. 

“Oakland’s got love for LA, and we do play a great brand of football up here,” Washington said after his team’s season opener. “We love having them up here because they hosted us well, and we wanted to make sure we hosted them the right way.”

Dorsey has rich history in football, with its famous football alumni including Keyshawn Johnson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 NFL draft.

The Castlemont football team wanted to make sure that visiting Dorsey was comfortable during what was a hectic day and a half leading up to Saturday’s game in East Oakland. 

The traveling Vikings – the majority of whose players had never been on an airplane – had to wake up at 2 A.M. to make a 6 A.M flight on Friday. After checking into their Bay Area hotel, Castlemont picked up the Dorsey football team.

After a brief bus tour around Oakland, the players spent a few hours mentoring kids at an elementary school.  

Then was an afternoon of team bonding at Castlemont, with a big team dinner the highlight. 

“We wanted to show them around, and show them how it was, and show them that they don’t need to be scared when they come to other places because they’ve got brothers in Oakland,” senior Castlemont linebacker T’onte Moore said. 

Dorsey quarterback Brandon Tolson and senior lineman Michael McDonald spoke glowingly of their first visit to The Town. 

“It’s really cool (to play here) and I really enjoyed the opportunity,” McDonald said. “I’m really grateful.”

It was an opportunity five years in the making. 

Oakland commissioner Franky Navarro and LA City Section commissioner Vicky Lagos first discussed the concept of a the Classic when they met in 2019. 

The COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on hold, but with the first home-and-home series a smashing success, both commissioners hope this series can continue with other teams. 

Navarro cited his time at the University of Miami in the early-2000s, when the Castlemont alum got to travel the country with the football team and meet new people, as an experience that changed his worldview. 

He hopes that the Neighborhood Classic can give kids from Oakland something similar. 

“Sometimes, we think we’re the only ones that are like us in our cities, but there’s a lot of people like us outside of our cities, in our state and the nation,” Navarro said. “So we look forward to helping make those connections. ”

Moore agreed, with Castlemont’s trip to Los Angeles a year ago being the first time he had ever flown. 

“Man, it’s a good experience, because a lot of people don’t get to out outside of their city,” Moore said. “So when they get that experience, its like ‘Oh man, we’re really doing it.”

After being a pleasant guest for a couple of days, Dorsey dominated the Knights on their home field. Tolson threw a touchdown pass to Tyler Oden, and Jamarion Broughton rushed for a score. 

The Dorsey defense kept the Castlemont offense – a unit that boasted Oregon State commit Elijah Washington – in check.  

But Dorsey coach Stafon Johnson hoped that the biggest takeaway from the game wouldn’t have anything to do with who did or didn’t score. 

“The same things they say about our neighborhood are the same things they say about theirs,” Johnson said. “We just want everyone to know that we’re just normal people who can do the same things that everybody else does. We can have a nice football game with no turmoil and animosity.”