Dawgs trounce Knights, remain undefeated
For the second straight week, the Ramona Bulldogs won a Valley League football game on the road. The most recent victim was San Marcos High School.
The Dawgs beat the Knights 43-7 to remain undefeated with a 6-0 record. The Dawgs are 2-0 in league play.
Things did not look good at the start of the game. The Bulldog started the game with two straight two and out offensive possessions. Ryan Cochrane then returned a punt 62 yards to the Bulldog 20-yard line.
From there, the Knights punched the ball into the end zone when Sebastian Vader hit Slater Lowman with a 6-yard pass to give San Marcos a 7-0 lead.
That was the end of the San Marcos offense. The Bulldog defense limited the Knights to 108 yards. San Marcos ran for 68 yards and passed for 40. It was a long night for the Knights’ offense.
The Bulldog defense scored the team’s first touchdown. Christian Rodriguez intercepted a Vader pass and returned it 52 yards for a score. On the play Kevin Guglielmetti threw a de-cleating block to ensure the score.
Rodriguez earned Defensive Player of the Game and Guglielmetti received the Defensive Lineman and a Big Hit shirt.
Twenty-one Bulldogs recorded tackles in the game. Rodriguez, Guglielmetti, Cody Lambert, Trevor Kerchner, Seth Drake, Dean Faddis, Tanner Hix, Christian Scherer, Chucky Delacruz, John Henry Yorba and Logan Pierce all had multiple tackles.
Justin Ephraim, Lambert and Drake also received Big Hit awards.
The Dawg offense did not put up impressive numbers because the defense always set them up with good field position. Ramona rushed for 193 yards and passed for 85. Joey Dambrose led all rushers with 97 yards and two touchdowns. He also had an 87-yard TD called back on a penalty.
Dambrose was the Offensive Player of the Game.
Tyler Jackson (39), Ryan Morgan (25), Ian Hunt (17), Dean Faddis(12) and Adrian Landgrave (11) also gained yards on the ground for the Dawgs. Faddis and Hunt scored touchdowns.
Hunt was seven of 14 for 85 yards and a TD with two interceptions passing. He hit Matt Ott with an 8-yard TD pass. Jesse Cappadocia and Mikey Head both had two receptions. Lyndon Scott and Matt Laws also had catches in the game.
Jacob Landmark graded out as the Offensive Lineman of the Game. Offensive linemen Brett Germain, Derek Sauter and Michael Roach received awards for their hustle by getting down field to throw big blocks on scoring plays.
The Special Teams players of the game were Brenton Balchin, Erik Ernst and John Henry Yorba. Balchin sacked a Knight punter to give the Bulldogs the ball inside the San Marcos 10-yard line. Ernst hit Yorba with a 2-point conversion pass after a bad snap on a PAT attempt.
Adrian Landgrave and Tyler Dawson were the Scout Team Players of the Week.
“The staff is very pleased with our overall effort against San Marcos,” said Coach Damon Baldwin. “The entire team is playing hard and having fun. We have really come together as a team and coaching staff.
“To be 6-0 and ranked highly is exciting, however, we are focused on Orange Glen and our Homecoming Game this week in the Dawg Pound. We all know that only the final rankings count.”
The Dawgs play four of their final five games at home.
“I would like to thank the parents of our program for providing the pre-game snacks and the post-game meals for both the JV and varsity teams,” said Baldwin. “The support the football program has received is tremendous.”
This week the Dawgs face Orange Glen for Homecoming. The game will be a sellout. To ensure a seat, it would be wise to get there for the JV game, which starts at 4 p.m. The varsity kickoff is scheduled for 7.
Junior varsity
The Bulldog junior varsity football team beat San Marcos 18-0, and for the third straight game the junior varsity defense has kept its opponent from scoring a touchdown.
Colin Murphy, Thomas Pecheco and Seth Martins each recorded five tackles each for the Dawgs. Cody Burns, Nathan Hunt, Andrew Stemm, Joey Cohen and Matt Neylan each had multiple tackle games. Burns intercepted a pass and Fidel Lopez recovered a fumble.
Jake Graham completed 10 passes for 162 yards. His favorite target was Bryson Garcia, who had six grabs for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
Kyle MacNamara led the Dawgs with 47 yards rushing and one TD. The junior varsity is 4-1-1 overall and is 2-0 in the Valley League.
Frosh
The Ramona Bullpups hung on for a hard fought 6-6 tie against the Squires of San Marcos High School.
The game was a hard-hitting defensive battle. Both defenses forced multiple turnovers.
Grant Faddis had the big defensive play for Ramona. Faddis intercepted a San Marcos pass in the end zone to ensure the tie with less than a minute left in the game after a Bullpup turnover had given San Marcos excellent field position. Eli Jauregui also had an interception for the Pups.
Ramona’s lone score came on a screen pass from Dalton McHargue to Shane Barnes.
The frosh football team is now 3-2-1 overall and is 0-1-1 in Valley League action.