Bullpup football upsets Valley Center Jaguars
Valley Center arrived at the Dawg Pound with a 7-1 record and a share of the Valley League lead. The Ramona Bullpups entered the game with a 1-7 record and a seven game losing streak.
The Bullpups upset the Jaguar cubs and won their first Valley League game 32-29 in a game that was exciting from the opening kickoff to the very last play from scrimmage.
On the first play from scrimmage, Mike Ernst called the halfback option pass. Valley Center had scouted Ramona and was keying on running back Elias Chavez.
The defense came up to stop the run and Chavez hit Javier Dominguez with a 34-yard touchdown pass. The PAT failed and Ramona led 6-0.
On Valley Center’s first snap, Walter Bronson recovered a VC fumble and Ramona took just four plays to cover 21 yards and score. Hunter McHargue hit Jacob Kelly with a 9-yard TD pass and the Bullpups led 12-0.
Valley Center got back into the game with an interception returned for a touchdown by Hudson Sherr.
Ramona answered with a 75 yard run by Chavez to extend their lead to 18-6. Valley Center intercepted another Ramona pass drove 19 yards for a score late in the second quarter to make it an 18-13 game.
Chavez forced a fumble and Daniel Kemp recovered the loose ball to give the Bullpups the ball on the Valley Center 37 yard line. Ernst again called the halfback pass and the results were the same a 37 yard pass from Chavez to Dominguez for a TD. Ramona led 24-13 at intermission.
Ramona opened the second half with a 30-yard kickoff return by Chavez and then drove 55 yards in 12 plays taking 5:38 off of the clock as they scored on an eleven yard Chavez run. McHargue hit Dominquez with a pass for the Pat and Ramona led 32-13.
Valley Center then scored two unanswered touchdowns to narrow the lead to 32-29.
Ramona’s defense rose to the occasion. Henry Rhett, Kemp, and Anthony Ehresman all recorded sacks and Dominguez made a game saving tackle on the final play of the game to hold on for the win.
The junior varsity Bulldogs beat Valley Center 27-13 on the road to remain in first place in the Valley League in a game that went down to the final snap.
Ramona dominated the first half and led 14-0 at intermission. The Dawgs scored the first touchdown as Kirk Kaliszewski scored the first TD on a 14 yard touchdowns run. Kaliszewski followed the blocking of Andrew Lisowski, Luke Papps, Paul Loska, Nick KHeimpel, Brandon Barnum, Preston Johnson and Nick Fitzpatrick all afternoon and finished the game with 106 yards and two touchdowns. Ramona’s second score came on a nine yard Travis Stevens to Garlan Marshall pass. Jeremiah Jordan added the PAT and Ramona had a 14-0 lead.
The defense played well in the entire game. They stopped Valley Center in the red zone twice. Bolton Lenard dominated the line of scrimmage from his nose guard position. Lenard recorded three solo sacks and made eight tackles. Thomas Pacheco also recorded a sack. Trevor Dotson forced a fumble and Phillip Lamborn made the recovery.
Valley Center scored on a 79 yard run to open the second half to narrow the score to 14-6. Ramona answered with a Kaliszewski one yard run behind the blocking of Connor Guisti to extend its lead to 20-6.
Valley Center narrowed the gap to 20-13 in the fourth and appeared to take the momentum. Steve Rothermel made a big fumble recovery to stop one drive deep in Bulldog territory.
Alec Gahreeb then made the defensive play of the game as he stole the ball after a long reception to give the Dawgs another key stop.
Dallas Jansen made a key 15 yard catch on a fourth down play to extend a Bulldog drive. The drive stalled on Valley Center’s one yard line with just under two minutes to play. Dotson, Gahreeb, Eli Jauregui made great defensive plays on VC passes as the Bulldog front seven pressured the jaguar passer. The Dawgs defense held and Ramona took over the ball on the Valley Center one yard line. Tyler Weaver-Villa scored an insurance touchdown with less than ten seconds left in the game to ensure the victory.
The junior varsity is now 8-1 overall and is 5-0 in the Valley League. The JVs play Westview at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Dawg Pound. To ensure seats for the varsity game, one should get to the JV game early as they battle for the Valley League championship.