2-A HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Ramona Stands Tall and Wide in 20-6 Defeat of Mission Bay

The Ramona Bulldogs are starting to like this thing called the playoffs.

In its first San Diego Section 2-A playoff appearance, Ramona (8-4) is in the semifinals against Avocado League rival El Camino after its 20-6 defeat of outmanned and outweighed Mission Bay at Balboa Stadium Saturday night.

Ramona’s offensive line, which averages 6-feet-2, 235 pounds, overpowered Mission Bay’s defensive line and opened huge holes for running backs Sarn Salmon, Tom Smith and Frank Thomas.

The trio combined for 183 yards on 41 carries.

Ramona Coach Mel Galli said the outcome was predictable.

“I don’t think they had ever run into the size of people we have on our team,” Galli said. “We tried to be conservative and we wanted to run the clock. Once we got past the first quarter I knew it was over.”

Ramona led 3-0 after the first quarter but controlled the ball for all but three plays. The second quarter wasn’t much different as Mission Bay (9-3) ran off nine plays to Ramona’s 16.

By halftime Ramona led, 17-0, and had outgained Mission Bay, 239 to 18.

“We just played a terrible first half,” said Dennis Pugh, Mission Bay’s coach. “We just can’t compete with that much physical force.”

Pugh, who had to play most of his people both ways, said his team was still hurting from last week’s victory over Oceanside.

“We’ve only got 1,500 in our school and we bus most of them in,” Pugh said. “We just can’t compete with schools that have that many kids. They always say the teams up north are supposed to be better than us. I guess they were right.”

The first-half back-breaker came with Ramona ahead 10-0 and facing a third and six at its own 43. With Mission Bay expecting another plunge up the middle, Ramona ran a flea-flicker that resulted in a 57-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Todd Dick to receiver Brandon Drouillard.

“That just killed us,” Pugh said.

Mission Bay scored its only touchdown with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter on a Pat Betancourt one-yard run. Unfortunately for Betancourt, it was the highlight of his night. He managed only 11 yards in 10 carries with his longest run being three yards.

Ramona’s only problem came in the second when Salmon (15 carries for 57 yards) was sandwiched by two Mission Bay players. Salmon was carried off on a stretcher with a neck injury. Salmon was listed in stable condition with no signs of paralysis late Saturday at the UCSD Medical Center.

Thomas led all rushers with 72 yards. Smith added 54.

San Pasqual 29, St. Augustine 0--San Pasqual did it with both offense and defense. Quarterback Jon Ramirez led the offense with 128 yards rushing on 12 carries. He also threw for a touchdown. Ramirez was backed up by running backs Cullen Owen--18 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns--and Andy Bacon--61 yards and a touchdown on 12 rushes.

San Pasqual rushed for 368 yards.

Defensively, they held the Saints to only 88 yards total offense.

Leading the way was defensive back Rodger Hill, who interceped a pass and knocked away two others. Troy Faris also had a big sack on a second-and-nine play early in the second quarter with the Eagles up 7-0. The Saints lost eight yards on the play.

“To get to the quarterfinals and shut out a team, you have to give a lot of credit to a team,” said Mike Dolan, San Pasqual coach.