 Galen Kusic
Staff Writer
The Rio Vista Rams annihilated the Encina Bulldogs at home on Friday, 64-8. It was a true team effort, as the Rams scored nine touchdown in the win.
“We executed and played a lot harder,” said Malta. “Encina played hard, but they were outmatched. We still made a lot of mistakes.”
The Rams got out to an early lead in the first quarter when runs from senior running back Charlie Chres and Tanner Webster moved the Rams into Bulldog territory before Webster took it from 31 yards out to put the Rams up 8-0. It was one of four touchdowns on the evening for Webster, who rushed six times for 98 yards. Webster is averaging just over nine yards per carry on the year.
“After our loss, we knew we made a lot of mistakes and we had to come out and practice hard. It paid off tonight,” said Chres. “The line did a great job.”
On Rio’s next defensive series, the Rams forced the Bulldogs to turn the ball over on downs after senior safety Austin Stevens made a nice open field tackle to allow the Rams to take over on downs.
“I thought the defensive effort was good, I thought we played how we should have against this team,” said Rio Vista Defensive Coordinator Warren Gomes. “I think we have some work to do, we are still getting pounded inside a little bit. This week we will be looking for guys to fill those holes.”
On the next play from scrimmage, Javis Blalock took it 72 yards to pay dirt, one of three touchdowns he would score. Blalock only rushed four times on the night for a whopping 125 yards.
On the season, Blalock is averaging an astonishing 25 yards per carry, and has scored at least two touchdowns in every game, giving him a season total of 17 - 12 rushing, four receiving and one on a punt return. In five punt returns this year, Blalock is averaging 38 yards a touch.
“I’ve got to give up to my line, the holes were so big, anybody could have scored,” said Blalock. “We came out ready and pumped up. Against Bradshaw we weren’t even ready for the game.”
On the Rams next possession, after Blalock returned a punt 55 yards to the Encina 25, Stevens found Blalock on a 25-yard strike to go up 22-0 after Chres added the two-point conversion.
“It’s leadership, we’ve got a lot of seniors, and we’ve all bought into the system,” said Chres. “We’re all in it together.”
With 11:24 to go in the second quarter, Chres scored a five-yard touchdown to put the Rams up 29-0. Chres had an excellent game of his own, rushing seven times for 89 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 12 tackles to anchor the defense. Chres is averaging just fewer than 13 tackles a game, and nearly nine yards per carry.
“Overall we did a great job on defense,” said Gomes. “Giving up eight points in the fourth quarter was pretty nice. I’m proud of the guys- they stepped up. We got a lot more guys in, we saw some second team guys that might step up.”
The Rams scored again when Blalock made another brilliant run over 50-plus yards to put the Rams up 36-0 with 7:15 to play in the half.
“Against Bradshaw, we came out not ready to play. The biggest game, and we choked like we had never been there before,” said Blalock. “We can’t wait to play them come playoff time. We needed that game actually to get our heads in the game to stay at it and not get overconfident. Every week we are coming out strong, no more slacking off.”
Webster scored again before the half to put the Rams up 43-0. In the second half with just over nine minutes to play in the third quarter, Chres took it 56 yards to score his second touchdown of the night. With 5:17 to play in the third quarter, Webster again took it 31 yards to the house to give the Rams a 57-0 lead. His last score came with 10:58 to go in the game, when he punched it in from 25 yards to give the Rams a 64-0 advantage.
Another positive note from the game was Dante Ruiz kicked the Rams first extra points of the season, as he went six for six. He is doing an excellent job on kickoffs as well. It should prove critical in later games this season when every point is key to achieve the victory.
“San Juan is going to be tougher this week,” said Malta. “They pass the ball a lot. Our secondary is going to have to be ready.”
The Rams will travel to Sacramento to take on San Juan, who is currently 0-5 after a brutal loss to Highlands last week, 55-6. The Rams improve with the win to 1-1 in Sierra Delta league play and still have to face Golden Sierra, Vacaville Christian and Highlands to finish out the season, all of which has winning records. |
