Rams tripped up on the road against Bulldogs
By Bonta Hill
Sports Editor
City College wasn’t planning on giving out any treats Halloween day to the San Mateo Bulldogs. For the Bulldogs, they got the candy they’ve been salivating over for 20 years: a victory over the Rams.
City College swallowed a tough one, losing their first game of the season to the Bulldogs 30-24. The Rams, 7-1 (2-1), dropped into a tie with the Bulldogs for second place in the NorCal Conference.
“We’re still in it, and nobody in this locker room is going to be down,” said safety Kenronte Walker. “We lost the game, but we still have a goal, and that’s to win the championship.”
The Bulldogs controlled the ball for over 35 minutes and kept the Rams’ high-octane offense off balance all game long. City College was in the ballgame throughout, but were inconsistent on both sides of the ball.
“Offensively, we missed a couple of deep balls that were real critical on offense, and defensively they spread us out with their huge splits on their offensive line,” Rams head coach George Rush said. “As a coach, I didn’t do a good enough job to give my guys the tools to adjust.”
On San Mateo’s opening possession, the Bulldogs pushed 39 yards to go up 7-0 on a short pass from quarterback Matt Pelesasa to running back David Aknin.
The Rams quickly responded as receiver Daniel Cannon took the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the Bulldog 42-yard line. On the next play, quarterback Darius Bell scampered 37 yards to the Bulldog five-yard line. Two plays later Bell punched it in from a yard out to even the score at seven.
Later in the quarter San Mateo ground out a 16 play, 91-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock to go up 14-7. Bulldog running back Seta Pohahau scored on fourth and goal from a yard out. Pohahau and Aknin would combine for 257 yards rushing.
“We competed well, but we just didn’t execute like we were suppose to,” Walker said. “As a team today, we didn’t put our best foot forward.”
San Mateo took the lead for good late in the second quarter as they went into halftime with a 21-17 lead. Bulldog kicker Ernesto Lacayo would kick three second half field goals and that was enough to hold off a late Ram charge and complete the upset.
City College still can still win the conference championship by winning their final two games of the season, Nov. 7 against rival Foothill College and Nov. 14 at Santa Rosa Junior College. Foothill will be coming into Ram Stadium undefeated in conference play and 7-1 record overall.
Rush has already turned his team’s attention off this game and turned the page to the showdown against Foothill. The game against the Foothill Owls begins at 1 p.m. on Nov. 7.
“I told our team, ‘win the next two games and we’re conference champs’,” Rush said. “Simple as that.”
“It’s just an eye opener, realizing we are capable of getting beat and we don’t like the feeling,” Rams receiver Stacy Long said, who had seven receptions for 92 yards for the Rams. “Coach said we have to look ahead because that conference championship is still there for us to take.”