Morse and El Camino Win to Complete the Final Four : 2-A Semifinal: Wildcats improve their record to 12-1 by decisively ending Ramona’s late-season run with a 49-0 victory.

All of the improvement the Ramona High football team made in the past two weeks and all the confidence it had gained were completely destroyed when experienced and talented El Camino took apart the Bulldogs, 49-0, Saturday night at Mira Mesa High in a section 2-A semifinal.

No. 2-ranked El Camino didn’t seem to get caught up in the hoopla surrounding the Bulldogs, who were making their first playoff appearance in 17 years.

El Camino (12-1) was apparently more concerned with getting back to the section finals--something it had not done since 1984. The Wildcats will be seeking their third 2-A section title Saturday at 5 p.m. at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium against Lincoln.

In three playoff games, El Camino has outscored its opponents by a whopping 146-14. “I think the size of the scores has been a surprise, especially tonight,” El Camino Coach Herb Meyer said.

But El Camino nose tackle Peau Atoe, who was able to penetrate Ramona’s mammoth offensive line for two sacks, said he was not shocked by the lopsided score. “I could tell they didn’t believe they were better than us,” he said. “They were double and triple-teaming me all night, but I just used my quickness to get around them.”

It’s hard to believe the game was actually scoreless after the first quarter.

From there, El Camino’s offense took up the slack from its defense, which welcomed back all-county linebacker Ricky Spears after a three-week absence because of a broken bone in his foot.

The Wildcats led, 21-0 at halftime and 36-0 after three quarters.

El Camino quarterback Joe Malek, despite fumbling once, threw two touchdown passes to Jerry Avery, one of them coming on a fake field goal in the third quarter.

Running back Brian Madlangbayan ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns, and two players recently called up from the junior varsity--Garland Copeland and Mike Gee--even scored in the fourth quarter.

In the first half, Atoe and linebackers Tony Serrato and Donald Balangue plugged up the middle and limited Ramona’s Sarn Salmon to 18 yards in nine carries and fullback Thomas Smith to four yards in five carries.

Ramona ended the half with just six yards rushing in 12 carries and zero passing in four attempts.

El Camino was not exactly tearing it up either--producing just four first downs--but it was able to come up with the big play when it needed to.

The Wildcats converted on two fourth-down plays. Madlangbayan gained 10 yards on a fourth and one to keep El Camino’s first scoring drive alive, and on the ensuing play, he scored from the 12.

Later in the quarter on a fourth and 15, Madlangbayan scampered 26 yards on an option run to make the score 14-0. The Wildcats closed out the first-half scoring with another big play, a 14-yard pass from Malek to Avery.