The Rams were holding onto a slim 15-9 lead over Del Mar and a field goal would have forced the Dons to score twice to win the game. In Willow Glen's first two games of the season, the Rams had suffered losses when late leads slipped away. They must have wondered if it was going to happen three weeks in a row.

After the blocked field goal, Del Mar took over the ball at its own 33-yard stripe. Four straight running plays put the ball at midfield with the Dons facing a third and five in order to keep the hope for a win alive. Another attempt on the ground was stuffed for no gain by a host of Rams and Del Mar was down to its last shot. Head coach Eric Buran went to his bag of tricks.

Quarterback Todd Myers took the snap, turned to his left and fired a strike to the flat just like he had done several times during the game. Wide receiver Emilio Hernandez was there to snag the ball and took a couple of steps before he suddenly stopped and lofted a high arching pass diagonally across the field toward tight end Billy Buxton, who was streaking toward the goal line without a Ram within 20 yards of him.

The whole stadium held its collective breath as the ball soared toward Buxton. It sailed over his head just barely beyond his fingertips and fell harmlessly to the turf at the 15-yard line, bouncing away and taking with it the last hopes of the Dons.

The Rams regained possession at midfield with 56 seconds showing. Willow Glen (1-2) was able to run the clock down and took a safety as time expired to nail down a hard fought 15-11 non-league win over visiting Del Mar (2-1).

It was the first home night game in the history of Willow Glen football and the Dons took the opening kickoff and looked like they were intent on spoiling the occasion for the home folks. Del Mar went on a 12-play drive deep into Ram territory with senior running back Emmanuel Sellu running nine times and quarterback Myers using his pinpoint accuracy to connect on three passes.

But on fourth and three from the 16, Myers dumped a short pass over the middle to Hernandez, but safety Jason Gibilisco came up with the big play for the Rams when he nailed Hernandez for only a one yard gain and forced Del Mar to give up the ball. That was just one of numerous outstanding defensive efforts that Gibilisco had on the night as he finished with a team-leading 13 tackles.

The fired up Rams quickly responded by driving 86 yards in nine plays to hit paydirt on 21-yard shot from Juan Baron to wide receiver Angel Posada, who had to leap high in the end zone to pull down the pass as he fell backyards to the ground. A 15-yard jaunt by Sam Canchola early in the drive gave the Rams some breathing room. Baron blasted through the middle for an eight-yard gain on a fourth and inches to keep the drive alive. Running back Marcos Garces used his speed to get around the left corner for a 20-yard scamper in another key effort during the drive.

The Dons came roaring back to answer the Rams' scoring strike. A deft mixture of Sellu's legs and Myers' arm combined to take the Dons 80 yards down the field. Sellu banged his way into the end zone on a three-yard blast for the score. The PAT failed due to a bad snap and Willow Glen held onto a slim 7-6 lead.

Del Mar got another break with just over five minutes left in the first half. As the Rams lined up to punt, a host of Dons broke through to block the kick, giving Del Mar the ball at the Willow Glen 35. The Ram defense, led by some strong pass coverage by Canchola, stiffened and forced Del Mar to settle for a field goal effort. This time the snap was good and Chris Webster split the uprights from 30 yards out and put the Dons on top 9-7.

Willow Glen had a bit of misfortune strike just before the half when senior wide receiver Nick Abbatelli went across the middle to pull down a pass, suffering what appears to be a season-ending knee injury on the tackle.

"We lost a great kid tonight," Penwarden said. "With our first win, I smile, but then I'm sad again because of losing Nick."

Willow Glen was led defensively by Gibilisco, and his efforts were complemented by Canchola and linebacker Eric Zetterquist with seven tackles each. Gerardo Cisneros and Mike Roseland bagged five each.

"We started to put a little more pressure on them in the second half and subbed in a couple of d-linemen with fresh legs here and there," Penwarden explained. "That made a difference and then we made some tackles when it counted."

Willow Glen finally got the break it was looking for early in the fourth quarter. After forcing the Dons to go three and out, the Rams got the ball in excellent field position near midfield. Three plays later they had the lead again. Posada snagged a 31-yard pass that literally bounced off a Don and fell into his hands. The score came on a textbook sweep around the right side with Garces getting the call.

Garces took the pitch and followed his pulling guard, Roseland, who led the way toward the goal line. Garces was one step behind Roseland with his hand on the guard's shoulder directing him. Roseland plowed over a defender at the two as Garces tumbled into the end zone to complete the 20-yard touchdown jaunt. The Rams lined up to go for a two-point conversion and Baron rolled to the left and scampered to the corner just inside the flag to make it good and put the Rams up 15-9 which would eventually be enough to secure the victory.

The Rams produced a balanced offensive attack. Garces led the way on the ground pounding out 81 yards on 18 carries and one touchdown. Gibilisco added 34 yards in eight efforts and Anthony Doan got the call once and got seven yards. Baron was accurate connecting on 10 of 12 passes totaling 106 yards and the one touchdown. He really had no favorite receivers but Posada led the way with three catches for 48 yards and the score. A pair of Rams snagged two each--Cisneros (19 yards) and Abbatelli (13 yards). Garces pulled down one for 25 yards.

Both coaches had a similar perspective on how the two teams played.

"They made some mistakes that helped us out," Penwarden said. "We played OK defense in the second half, but I think they stopped themselves more than we stopped them at times."

"I tip my hat to Willow Glen," Buran said. "They came to play and deserved to win. But we made too many mental mistakes and beat ourselves. Our toughest opponent was ourselves."

"It's a huge load off our backs getting that first win," Penwarden said. "The kids have worked so hard and they finally get the payoff they deserve. They can smile back on history knowing that they won the first home night game in the history of Willow Glen football."

The Rams will be challenged again this week when they travel to meet Evergreen on it's home turf in a 7 p.m. contest on Sept. 30. The game is the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division opener for both squads. Evergreen has a strong program and moved into the Santa Teresa Division this season by virtue of its BVAL West Valley Division championship last year.