The Citadel finally opened up the season after tropical depressions and Hurricane Irma delayed the first two matches.

The Backyard Brawl took place for the Holy City Cup. The annual event when the Citadel takes on cross town rivals the College of Charleston.

The Citadel hosted on the historical parade deck in the middle of campus. The Citadel took the day with an impressive 53-10 victory. The Citadel jumped out early by a 45 meter try by senior center Aaron Moore. The Bulldogs forwards dominated the scrums and the lineouts in both haves of play. Junior fullback Ellison Rouke took theball 15 meters in for the Dogs' second try at ten minutes. Cam Ables hit the conversion for a 12-0 lead.

After some back and forth and a series of kicks, sophomore wing Jaylin West raced in from 45 meters out after being set up by Moore. The Bulldogs were plagued with penalties which hurt their rhythm. However, they still worked one more try in the first half as senior scrumhalf Mike McGaffic tapped quickly on a penalty and went over.

That made it 22-0 at the break.

"We needed to knock of the rust from all the weather we had that cancelled matches and practices," said Citadel Head Coach Bill Bell. "It appears we gathered a little more than hoped. We didn't get on the pitch to practice until Wednesday of last week. But they pulled it solidly together in the second half of play." 

In the second half the Dogs scored quick with an impressive run from Moore. After the Bulldogs restarted, they pressured the Cougar attack and pinned them back near the Cougar tryline. Citadel regained the ball thanks to a penalty and tapped quickly. Mike McGaffic offloaded to captain and prop Antonio Moffa, and he blasted into the try zone from five meters out.

Later on, center Braxton McDuffie scored from 20 meters out, and then senior hooker Larry Bermudez also scored off powerful run. Coming off the bench, ian Butler also scored. 

Final score, 53-10 for The Citadel.

"I was very proud of how the team performed, especially the forwards," said Forward Coach Tommy Duffy. "We were low, we drove together, and we won 83% of all the scrums. Lineouts were outstanding."

Hess, a transfer from Cal, was excellent in making the lineouts click and was technically proficient at No. 8. Senior captain Antonio Moffat was named Man of the Match.