Ramona 42, Escondido 16
Though down their regular starting quarterback, the Ramona Bulldogs had no problem scoring points Friday against the Escondido Cougars, winning 42-16 and improving their season record to 4-0. The Cougars (0-4) continued experiencing problems that have plagued them through the season; the team hasn’t been able to keep any opponent this year to any fewer than 33 points.
In the week leading up to the match-up, Ramona Coach Damon Baldwin was careful not to publicize which of his players had been injured in Week 3 against Grossmont and not expected to play against the Cougars. On Friday, the hometown crowd realized that among the players that would not enter the game was the team’s regular starting quarterback, Marco Cobian. Filling his spot, Cameron Rowles, a sophomore, showed that he has a throw with some punch behind it. He hit two receivers, Garrett Binkley and Christian Dominguez, for touchdown passes of 8 yards and 44 yards, respectively, and made use of the play-action.
Bulldogs’ running back Brandon Gansch had an impressive night as well, rushing for a 55-yard touchdown in the second quarter, a 5-yard touchdown in the third and a 35-yard score in the fourth. On defense, linebacker Keyno Crichlow snagged a pass from Cougars quarterback Sam Grimes and turned it the other way for an 18-yard score.
For a team whose coach was concerned earlier in the week that it may have issues with injuries, the Bulldogs seemingly defied their own worries.
On the other sideline, Escondido Coach Steve Bridges might not have been all too surprised. Although making the point days before the game that his team would have to play sound on defense as part of a winning strategy versus Ramona, he hedged that thought by repeating his team’s continuing struggles with injuries. While Josh Navarro scored twice on runs of 2 and 18 yards, Sam Grimes, the Cougars’ quarterback in place of injured JD Fox, never found the end zone. The Cougars’place kickerr, Juan Mejia, was good on a 22-yard field goal to wrap up Escondido’s scoring.
Escondido will play Mission Hills (3-1) next week before beginning league play in Week 6. The Bulldogs will travel to Helix.
