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The Willow Glen Rams had too much offense and were too strong on defense, and they put it all together last Saturday in a 31-21 win over the San Jose Bulldogs in a Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division game.
Willow Glen's win, coupled with the loss suffered by James Lick, put the Rams in a two-way tie for first place in the division. The Rams and Comets have matching 4-1 league records going into the final game of the regular season. Willow Glen is 6-3 for the year.
The Rams host Del Mar on Nov. 15, 1:30 p.m., in a crucial league contest. Del Mar is hot and playing well with a tie and two wins in their last three games. Del Mar sits at 3-1-1 in division play—only a half game behind both Willow Glen and Lick.
Everything is on the line. If Willow Glen wins and James Lick loses, the Rams will be division champions and clinch a place in the Central Coast Section playoffs. If both the Rams and Comets win, they will be co-champions but Lick will advance by virtue of its win over Willow Glen. If Del Mar beats the Rams and Lick loses, it will be the Dons in first place and moving on to CCS.
"We are basically playing for the championship on Saturday," said coach Andy Penwarden.
The Rams managed to hold San Jose scoreless until the third quarter. They smothered the Bulldogs by grabbing three fumbles—two by Matthew Arevalo and one by Ricardo Munoz. Alex Green also snagged two interceptions to help shut down the San Jose passing attack.
The Rams struck first on a 25-yard touchdown run by Munoz in the second quarter. Jon Gibilisco kicked the extra point, and the Rams had a 7-0 lead.
It didn't take long to increase that lead to 10-0 when Gibilisco added a 24-yard field goal a few minutes later. Both teams were scoreless the remainder of the first half.
The Rams came out in the third quarter and continued to move the ball well. On a third and short yardage situation deep in Bulldog territory, the Rams called a quarterback sneak. Chris Hobbs popped through a hole in the middle of the line and broke a tackle as he scooted 30 yards for the score and a 17-0 Rams lead.
The Bulldogs finally got on the scoreboard when they returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. Arevalo blocked the PAT attempt and the score was 17-6.
Willow Glen scored two more times before the Bulldogs put up late points after the game was decided. The Rams threw in a little razzle-dazzle into the mix when they ran a reverse to Green, who then lofted a pass to Justin Ble for a 35-yard touchdown. Hobbs added one more touchdown when he scrambled on a broken play and rumbled into the endzone from 15 yards out to give Willow Glen a 31-6 lead.
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