Ravizza leads Rams to road win over Dons

By Greg Lydon

Dons quarterback knocked out early, Rams roll in convincing road win

Willow Glen- 14 7 0 7 - 28

Del Mar – 0 0 8 0 - 8

Scoring summary

First quarter:

WG< Mitchell Ravizza passes to Greg Hori for a 26-yard touchdown (Ravizza kick), 8:19 left

WG< Ravizza runs for a 36-yard touchdown (Ravizza kick), 2:37 left

Second quarter:

WG< Ravizza passes to James Aliason for a 10-yard touchdown (Ravizza kick), 7:22 left

Third quarter:

DM< Alex Oko runs 7-yards for touchdown (Oko runs 2-yards for 2-pt convo), 5:10

Fourth quarter:

WG< Matt Potter runs 12 yards for touchdown (Ravizza kick), 11:07 left

Behind three Mitchell Ravizza first half touchdowns, two in the air and one long scramble on the ground, the Willow Glen High football team defeated Del Mar High 28-8 in a non-league match-up Friday night at Del Mar High in San Jose.

The Rams potent offensive attack wasted little time early.

The visitors scored touchdowns on three of their first four possession en route to the impressive 28-8 road triumph.

Ravizza found junior Greg Hori for a 26-yard touchdown connection to open the scoring, then broke the home teams back with a 36-yard touchdown scramble on a fourth and long play.

Willow Glen improved to 2-1 overall with the win and will now turn its attention to league play which begins Friday night at Branham High.

“I want the team to mentally prepare themselves a little better than what I saw tonight,” Willow Glen head coach Oscar Caballero said. “We were coming off a bye week last week. We were very lucky our athletes made some plays to help us early.”

Ravizza, just a sophomore, only saw time in the first half for the Rams.

The young Rams quarterback went 5-of-6 for 88 yards and threw two passing touchdowns in the half. Ravizza also ran twice for 40 yards and one rushing touchdown.

“We wanted to play both quarterbacks,” Caballero said. “With the way the first half was going, I thought it was a good time to give both players some time out there.”

Capping off a six-play scoring drive, the Rams converted a four and long play to stun the host Dons late in the first quarter.

With offensive lineman Jiovanni Muniz, Dylan Adams and 6-foot-5, 255-pound bruiser Andy Bruening winning the battle in the trenches, Willow Glen moved the ball deep into Del Mar territory.

After an offensive pass interference call brought back a Rams touchdown, Willow Glen was stuck with a fourth and 27 play from the Del Mar 36-yard line.

The Rams rolled the dice and went for it. The visitors were rewarded handsomely.

Ravizza rolled out right and when no open targets presented themselves, tucked the ball and jetted down the right sideline.

All kinds of space awaited the Rams quarterback as he avoiding losing his footing long enough to run 36 yards for the touchdown.

Willow Glen led 14-0 after one quarterback of play.

“It felt good to get a big play and score,” Ravizza said. “It gave the o-line a lot of confidence. The line played great all night.”

Ravizza capped off the impressive opening half with a perfectly executed middle screen pass to James Aliason for a 10-yard touchdown score.

Aliason walked in untouched for the touchdown with 7:22 left in the half.

Willow Glen led 21-0 at the half.

While the Rams offense came out of the gates with a bang, the Dons spent the night stuck in the mud.

Already facing a daunting challenge, Del Mar only dressed 18 players for Friday nights non-league affair, Dons senior quarterback Noah Pardo was knocked out of the game midway through the first quarter with a concussion.

Pardo sat out the rest of the game. His status is undetermined for next weeks game at Yerba Buena High-San Jose.

“Noah had trouble remembering what happened on the sidelines so we felt it was best to keep him out,” Del Mar head coach Mario Busalacchi said. “He got a pretty good cut on his chin also. It was a tough blow for us early in the game.”

Junior wide out Alex Oko moved over to quarterback after Pardo was lost for the evening.

Oko struggled throwing the ball, but did use his legs nicely to avoid the heavy Rams pass rush.

“Alex is our quarterback of the future,” Busalacchi said. “Alex can do some nice things out there for us.”

Del Mar failed to complete a pass during a bumpy first half, but turned things around to start the second half.

Driving the ball 57 yards on 11 plays, the Dons best drive of the night ended with a smooth 7-yard touchdown run by Oko for six points.

Oko also kept the ball on the 2-point conversion.

All 11 plays on the drive were run plays for the Dons.

Willow Glen led 21-8 after three quarters.

Following the Dons touchdown, the Rams first unit returned minus Ravizza and marched 78 yards for the Rams final score of the night.

Senior Brent Talley played quarterback in the second half for Willow Glen. Talley finished the night 3-for-3 passing for 32 yards, including two completions on the final scoring drive.

Junior running back Matt Potter ran for a 12-yard touchdown to put the Rams ahead 28-8 with 11:07 left in the ball game.

Willow Glen won the game 28-8.

Both teams open league play Friday on the road.

Willow Glen is now 2-1 overall, while the Dons fall to 1-2.