Dixon Youth Football: Rams Face Bears in Late September Showdown

Special to Dixon Patch

The Dixon Rams traveled up to Santa Rosa to take on the Redwood Pal Golden Bears.

It was a tough day for the Rams with the Jr. Pee Wees, Midgets and the undefeated PeeWees all suffering a loss.

The Mitey Mites came out strong in the first game of the day beating Redwood Pal 24 to 13.  The Jr. Midgets also had a huge 22 to 8 win.  Coach Moniz and Coach Moreno worked hard on preparing the Jr. Midget offensive line and it paid off.

The offensive line, consisting of Jake Arnold, Max Gorham, Jorge Jimenez, Joe Jimenez, Andrew Rivera, Cameron Bibby, Dylan Anderson, KC Holtemann and Andres Barrera blocked very well.

They opened up big holes for our running backs Bryce Nakamura, Cameron Garlick, Alex Cole, and Dominic Castelli, who all ran hard all day long.

Nakamura, Garlick and Nefzger all scored touchdowns and Aaron Cruz added two 3 PATs. The Defense, led by Gorham, Jorge Jimenez, Cole, Holtemann, Nakamura, Joey Baker, Brandon Castillo, Garlick, Bibby, Joey Jurardo and Cesar Lugo all played well.

The defense gave up an early score but then came together and played a solid game.

"I am proud the way our kids played against a good Redwood Pal team. It was fun to watch them come together" said Head Coach Holtemann.

The Jr. Pee Wees suffered a 19 to 0 loss to the Bears.  The Pee Wee team experienced their first loss of the season, losing to Redwood Pal 38 to 28.

The PeeWees started out strong in the first half, but struggled in the second half.  In the first half of the game the Rams scored 28 points with a quarterback keeper by Mitch Moniz, a 1-yard run by Spencer Webb, a 35-yard run by Jesse Camarillo, and a 68-yard run by Jake Giardino.

Spencer Webb kicked 2 out of 4 PATs.  At half-time the Rams were leading the Redwood Pal Bears 28 – 12.  However, after half time the Rams just couldn’t score and Redwood Pal scored 26 unanswered.

On kick-off returns, Jesse Camarillo ran for 70 yards while Mylan Dickerson ran for 42 yards.

Total offense included three passes from Moniz to Kyle McMullen for 92 yards and a pass to Giardino for 20 yards, Moniz rushed for 15 yards on three carries, Webb rushed for 14 yards on six carries, Camarillo rushed for 92 yards on 10 carries, Giardino rushed for 95 yards on seven carries.

The last game of the day also saw the Midgets losing a hard fought game 12 to 6 to the undefeated Redwood Pal Bears.  A confident Redwood Team was unaware of the Rams tenacity and determination.

In the first quarter of play the bears soon realized that they had their work cut out for them.  Led by a stingy and determined Defense, the Defense became the oil to the gear of the Offense.

A fumble recovery by Ethan Rogers, outstanding open field tackling by Nathaniel Short and Antwon Wiley and penetration by the interior defensive linemen were just some of the highlights in the first half of the game.

Inspired by the Defense the Rams’ Offense kicked in gear by exploiting the Bears’ interior defensive line.  Ram fullback Micah Gomez pounded the middle of the Bears defensive line with runs of 7-12 yards per carry.

Setting the Bears defense on their heels, the offensive line led by Brian Bunch, Charlie Moore, Adonez Ceja, Nayid Ceja, Caleb Short, Zach Plowman and Ethan Rogers started opening running lanes for Wing-backs Antwon Whitley and Armani Jones.

With the game still in question, the Ram’s began the second half with a flurry of outstanding defensive and offensive plays the bears soon realized that they were in a dog- fight. Trailing 12-6 in the forth quarter, the Rams offense went to work by marching down the field to the bear’s twenty-yard line.

With less than three minutes in the game, the Rams were in scoring position. As the battle became intense the flag fell for the Ram’s when a pitch to the wingback fell short. The bears recovered the fumble thereby ending a possible upset.

“I was so very proud of my boy’s today.  They fought hard and bled green on the field. The score may not show it but we were the winners today,” Head Coach Jason Chadwick.

“What a great performance by our boys, we played an undefeated team that has put other teams in scrimmage by the third quarter and have not been scored on in four games. Some might call this a moral victory while others would say it is just a continuation of the team’s futility, I call it Desire, Dedication and Determination” Coach Toodie Gomez.