Ramona dominates homecoming game
Ramona High school beat San Marcos High School 51-7 in the Bulldogs’ 2009 Homecoming Game. It wasn’t that close.
The Bulldogs rushed for 318 yards and passed for 127 yards, and the Offensive Player of the Game was an offensive lineman, Spencer Johnston.
“He has great athleticism,” said Coach Damon Baldwin. “He makes blocks that can’t be taught. I get impressed every time I watch film.”
The O-lineman of the game was the entire offensive line: Eric Box, James Nicholson, Johnston, Cody Sweet, Justin Godes, Preston Snyder, Kwayde Miller and John Henry Yorba.
Godes was also the Homecoming King.
Ramona put the game away in the first quarter as the Dawgs built a 20-0 lead. They scored every time they had the ball in the first half and one time on defense to lead 48-0 at intermission.
The Dawgs did not pass or run outside in the second half, and every healthy Bulldog played in the game.
The Dawgs used speed, power, finesse, special teams and defense to score.
Speed: Ryan Morgan must have felt like he was on the track team, because he was never touched on both of his touchdowns. He took the ball like it was a baton and went untouched into the end zone twice, thanks to his o-line. Morgan rushed for 128 yards on 11 carries, all in the first half.
Power: Tyler Jackson and Logan Peterson used brute strength to score. Jackson ran for two touchdowns and 145 yards on 16 carries all between the tackles. Peterson also scored a TD running behind the line.
Finesse: Erik Ernst went 4 for 8 through the air for 127 yards. He hit four different targets with one pass each. Seth Drake had a 74-yard touchdown reception.
Trevor Kerchner (24 yards), Bryson Garcia (16 yards) and Preston Snyder (13 yards) all caught Ernst passes.
Special teams: Colin Murphy kicked a 23-yard field goal and converted 6-point after attempts.
Pat Burns earned the Big Hit of the Game shirt for his play on special teams.
Defense: Seth Drake intercepted a Sebastian Vader pass and returned it 55 yards for a score. Trevor Kerchner earned a Big Hit shirt on the play and Drake earned a Big Play shirt.
All in all it was a bad night to be a Knight.
“We made some changes on how we defended the option and they worked out very well,” said Coach Ed Munyer.
Munyer had his linemen (Dakota Rhodes, Christian Scherer, Stephen Foster, Yorba, Fidel Lopez and Quinton Wright) and middle backer (Colton Houlihan and Sam Hine) stop the dive. He let his outside backers (Marshal Thrasher, Matt Neylan, Jake Graham) stop the quarterback.
The coach had his safeties (Nate Hunt, Kerchner) take the pitch man. Nate Lutu, Drake, Andrew Stemm and Tyler Harvey covered the passes. San Marcos completed just three passes.
The changes worked. Drake had 10 tackles. Matt Neylan, Hunt and Houlihan had nine tackles. In all, 21 Bulldogs registered tackles.
Nate Lutu had an interception. The defense made it a long night for the Knights.
Coach Baldwin also had praise for Rocco Hemphill, Burns, Trevor Michaux and DJ Adams for the job they did all week on scout teams.
“The biggest reason for our success on special teams, offense and defense is the great look that our scout teams give us in practice,” said scout teams Coach Greg Fernandez. “The scout teams did a better job against us this week than San Marcos.”
Ramona will go three weeks before its final home game of the year. The Dawgs travel to play a much improved Orange Glen tomorrow. They then will have a bye before they take on the number five ranked team in the county, Valley Center, on the road.
“Ramona’s football fans are already famous around the county for their support. Homecoming 2009 did nothing to hurt that stellar reputation,” said Baldwin.