RHS Hell Week starts Aug. 10
The Ramona Bulldogs finished their summer program and will take two weeks in the California Interscholastic Federation mandated “dead period” before starting “Hell Week” on Aug. 10.
The Bulldogs finished the summer by competing in the North County Passing Tournament, co-hosted by Rancho Buena Vista High school and El Camino High School and one of the biggest tournaments in the state, if not the nation. Schools from all over the state and from Arizona compete.
Ramona started the tourney on Friday by beating Granite Hills High School. Seth Drake grabbed two touchdown passes and Kyler Fitting made one scoring catch to pace the offense. All three TDs were tossed by Erik Ernst.
Andrew Stem made a big defensive play by making an interception to stop the Eagles last drive. The interception ensured the Bulldogs the win.
The Bulldogs lost their second game of the day to Torrey Pines High School. Drake scored the Dawgs only TD on a pass from Ernst.
“We made too many mental errors and some wrong decisions and they cost us,” explained Coach Damon Baldwin.
Baldwin’s troops finished the first day of pool play with a win over Horizon High School. Horizon entered the game undefeated in pool play.
Ernst hit running back Tyler Jackson with a scoring toss. Ernst also made use of his tight ends in the game hitting Fitting and Kwade Miller with touchdown passes.
The win gave Ramona the win in pool play and the Dawgs advanced to Saturday in the winners bracket.
Ramona opened winners’ bracket play with a win over University High School of the Southern Section. Two-way star Trevor Kerchner had a big day. He caught a touchdown pass and grabbed a PAT toss. The defensive star of the game was Logan “Pete” Peterson, who intercepted a Trojan pass and returned it for a touchdown.
The Dawgs were eliminated from the tournament by Saint Augustine High School. Running back Ryan Morgan beat the Saints deep on a post pattern for a long TD. The Saints intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it for a score to win the game.
Coach Ed Munyer was very pleased with the play of his defense.
“We played our best pass defense of the summer,” he said. “We had five interceptions and made several key stops. All of our defensive backs did a great job. We built some confidence that will carry over to two-a-days and the fall. Coach Marc Boykins called the defense on Friday and did a great job.”
Defensively, Matt Neyland, Drake, Nate Lutu and Peterson had interceptions. Peterson had two picks.
“We moved the ball well but we made some bad decisions that led to interceptions,” said Baldwin. “We can work on that when two-a-days start. It was a great way to end the summer.
“We competed and played well and played our best defense of the summer. I hope that the kids enjoy the two weeks off and come back fresh for two-a-days.”