Bulldogs travel to Carlsbad for season’s first game

Ramona High School boys water polo coach Donnie Williams is hoping that more Bulldog boys will join the junior varsity water polo team this year, but he likes what he has seen with Ramona’s varsity squad.

“On the varsity side we’re pretty solid with the group we have,” Williams said.

The 2017 Bulldogs had two seniors, only one of whom was a starter. That starter was goalkeeper Josh Ferry.

“He’s our big hole that we have to fill,” Williams said.

Two players have spent time in the nets since practice began Aug. 1, and at this point senior Jason Galloway is expected to be the Bulldogs’ starting goalie in 2018.

“Jason Galloway stepped up quite a bit,” Williams said.

Ramona’s first scrimmage of the season took place Aug. 10 at Patrick Henry High School. “I thought they did well,” Williams said.

The score is not officially kept during scrimmages although the coaches can determine what may or may not create goals for or goals against. “Our scrimmage against Patrick Henry was decent. We made a lot of mistakes,” Williams said.

Ramona’s first game of the season will be Aug. 21, when the Bulldogs travel to Alga Norte Aquatic Center in Carlsbad for a game against Pacific Ridge. The Bulldogs will follow that match with the Aug. 23-25 Rancho Bernardo Invite tournament.

“That will give us a good feel for where we’re at,” said Williams.

As of the Aug. 10 scrimmage, only 22 students sought berths on the varsity or junior varsity teams.

“I’d like to see more,” Williams said. “I’d like to get our numbers up to 28 or better.”

Although Dawson Webster is the only player who has been on the varsity since 2015, many other varsity players have been in the program for four years.

“We’re returning a lot of experience right now,” said Williams.

Matt Damm, Nathan Duffie, Jeffrey Ramsthaler, Vincent Thompson and Frankie Trout are the other returning starters.

“It’s promising, especially on the varsity level,” Williams said.