Bulldogs lose to Carlsbad after 5 turnovers
By Bill Tamburrino
The Ramona Bulldogs lost to Carlsbad High School 31-9 at the Dawg Pound last Friday night.
“I am perplexed,” said Coach Damon Baldwin. “We had a very good week of practice, especially the offense. In scripting the first 15 plays, I put in plays that gave us the best chance of success
with minimal chances of fumbles and interceptions.
“The defense did not practice as well as the offense, but they kept us in the game on Friday night. Both sides of the ball are playing hard and everybody is giving us a good effort. However, no team, no matter how good it is, can turn over the ball five times and expect to win. We have to eliminate those costly mistakes. If we continue to practice hard and give a good effort, we will improve.
“The toughest part of the schedule is still ahead of us,” said Baldwin, who remains optimistic. “We will have to find a way to win some games and get into the playoffs. We have a good chance in Division III if we can get some wins.”
The Carlsbad game had its share of bad news, but it also had some good news and some good individual and team efforts.
The bad news started with the Bulldog offense turning over the ball to Carlsbad on its first three possessions. An interception and two fumbles led to two Lancer touchdowns, and the Dawgs trailed 14-0. Ramona’s first quarter stats were dismal: 3 yards passing, 3 yards rushing and three turnovers. From then on, Ramona actually had better statistics than the Lancers.
Kirk Kaliszewski led the Bulldogs in rushing with 88 yards on 20 attempts. Ryan Lopez (10), Keyanis Crichlow (8), Javier Dominguez (7) and Nathan Cherek (6) also had positive rushing yards for the Dawgs.
Hunter McHargue hit on five of 14 passes for 89 yards, and Ryan Lopez completed two of six attempts for 23 yards.
Jason Laws was the leading receiver with five grabs for 91 yards that included a 59-yard reception for the Dawgs longest play from scrimmage. Crichlow had two receptions for 23 yards.
The Bulldog defense kept the Dawgs in the game until the final period and scored Ramona’s only touchdown. Crichlow intercepted a pass in the third period and returned it for a 17-yard touchdown to make it a one possession game as the period ended with Ramona trailing 9-17.
Dominguez intercepted a Lancer pass in the second period to set up Ramona’s first score.
Elias Jauregui led both teams in tackles. The senior defensive back recorded 10 tackles. Tanner “T-Bone” Williams had seven tackles with a sack.
Daniel Kemp and Crichlow each recorded five tackles. Dominguez, Alec Ghareeb, Josh Mahaffey, Kaliszewski, Christian Drews, Brawnson Walter, Preston Johnson, Jureall Simmons and Daniel VanTol all recorded multiple tackle games.
The special teams also had some big plays. Christian Glotfelty boomed a 60-yard punt and also pinned the Lancer offense down on the 7 yard line with a coffin corner punt. Ali Aparicio drilled a 32-yard field goal at the end of the first half to get the Dawgs on the scoreboard.
Nathan Cherek hustled on another Glotfelty punt and recovered a fumble for the Dawgs.
The Dawgs travel to Otay Ranch on Friday. The junior varsity will kick off at 4:40 p.m. and the varsity kickoff is scheduled for 7.
The undefeated freshman football team will have 4:30 home kickoff on Thursday due to Back to School Night at RHS. The frosh defense has yet to surrender a touchdown.