Warriors score third-quarter touchdown against Bulldogs

Fallbrook High School head football coach Troy Everhart first had a game against Ramona High School in 2019, when Ramona obtained a 48-8 victory over the Warriors and Fallbrook didn't score until the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter. Although this year's March 26 game at Ramona was a 45-6 Bulldogs victory, Fallbrook's touchdown was scored in the third quarter.

"We're not where we need to be, but we're getting there," Everhart said.

Ramona held a 42-0 halftime lead. "I thought our kids did an absolutely incredible job showing resiliency in the third and the fourth quarter," Everhart said. "I'm really proud of the mindset of the kids even after that terrible first quarter."

The score at the end of the first period was 28-0. "If there was something we could have done wrong we did it in the first quarter," Everhart said.

The CIF stipulates a running clock in the fourth period if one team is ahead by at least 35 points. The coach who is behind has the option of beginning the running clock earlier. "I will never take a running clock in the third," Everhart said.

Early in the third quarter, Anthony Thomas forced a Ramona fumble and Cade Eidson recovered the ball approximately 45 yards away from the end zone the Bulldogs were defending. "We had a couple of big plays," Everhart said.

One of those was on fourth down when Fallbrook needed four yards for a first down. The ball was given to Kenneth Spring. "He got four yards and two inches," Everhart said.

That gave Fallbrook first and goal on the Ramona nine. Spring ended the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.

Ramona hosted the Bulldogs' 2019 game against Fallbrook and had leads of 35-0 after the first quarter and 45-0 at halftime. Although the Warriors fared slightly better March 26, Everhart believes that the Bulldogs were also a better team.

"They're vastly improved from last year," Everhart said.

Fallbrook and Ramona both entered their 2019 game against each other with 0-7 records, but Ramona's four previous losses had been by six points or fewer. Ramona ended the 2019 season with a 2-8 record, and the Bulldogs missed the CIF playoffs for the first time since 2003. Only five seniors started Ramona's final game of 2019, and during the 2019 season 10 Ramona sophomores saw varsity action. Despite those sophomores not participating at the junior varsity level, the Bulldogs' JV team still won the league championship, and many of those junior varsity players have joined Ramona's varsity.

The Bulldogs' weight room was open during July 2020. "Their kids were in the weight room on campus," Everhart said. "Our kids haven't seen the inside of a weight room since March 13 of last year."

Fallbrook and Ramona are both unincorporated towns with only one comprehensive high school (both have an independent study high school and a continuation school). "They're two very similar communities," Everhart said.

The Bulldogs improved their 2020-21 season record to 2-0 while improving the career coaching record of Damon Baldwin, who became the Bulldogs' head coach for the 2005 season, to 102-69-1.

"They understand the formula for winning," Everhart said. "That's my goal, to get us to where they're at right now."

The Valley League schedule has Fallbrook hosting Escondido in tomorrow's game.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].