Bulldogs score in the air, on the ground in scrimmages

The Ramona Bulldog football team fared well against San Pasqual and Del Norte high Schools in a three-way scrimmage at San Pasqual on Friday.

Scores and statistics are not officially kept in scrimmages, but if they were Ramona would have come out a winner.

The Dawgs scored in the air and on the ground as Hunter McHargue hit on a high percentage of passes and threw for touchdowns to Jason Laws and Christian Drews. Elias Jauregui, Javier Dominguez and Brenden Tustison scored on the ground.

Kwayde Miller, Ivan Rodriguez, Eric Box, Luke Papps, Preston Johnson, Chris Lindquist and Connor Guasti pushed the Del Norte and San Pasqual lines off the line of scrimmage and gave McHargue time to throw the ball. Box went down with an ankle injury in the scrimmage, but the extent of his injury is unknown. That could have an impact on both sides of the ball as many Bulldogs are playing offense and defense.

The wide receiver corps of Laws, Keyanis Crichlow, Josh Mahaffey and Kevin Hagan caught several passes and impressed the coaches with their down field blocking.

Defensive coordinator Stephon Pace was cautiously optimistic in his evaluation of the defense’s performance.

“We have a long way to go, but we improved a lot in the week since our intersquad scrimmage,” he said.

The Bulldogs are employing an attacking defense and they are getting their assignments down, but they must work on executing those assignment at full speed.

The Dawg D did a great job of gang tackling against San Pasqual and Del Norte. The front four — Daniel VanTol, Chandler Vasquez, Jureall Simmons and Marcus Gomez — kept the offensive lines occupied and allowed linebackers Drews, Kirk Kaliszewski and T-Bone Williams to flow to the ball and stunt to unoccupied gaps. The defensive backs — Dominguez, Crichlow, Jauregui, Robbie Farren and John Harmaz — played the pass well and came up on run support.

Coach Damon Baldwin said he was pleased with the scrimmage but is worried about depth and injuries.

“We improved greatly from our Family Day scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” he said. “We still are not up to game speed, but we are getting there.”

The Dawgs travel to Grossmont High School on Friday for the season opener. The junior varsity will start at 4:30 p.m. and the varsity is scheduled to kick off at 7.

The difference between a game and a scrimmage is big. Special teams are added and they have been a big part of Ramona’s success in the past. Statistics are kept and the score counts.