Bulldogs Fall to Morse 27-17 in Home Opener

Despite a strong performance by senior two-way player Kirk Kalszewski, the Ramona High School football team came up short again Friday night in its nonleague game against Morse.

Kalszewski rushed for 149 yards and one touchdown on offense and contributed a quarterback sack and numerous tackles on defense, but the Bulldogs were guilty of turnovers, penalties and dropped passes at inopportune times in their 27-17 loss to the Tigers.

“I’m happy with our running game, and we played hard on defense,” said Ramona coach Damon Baldwin. “But we’re 0-2 and we have no excuses. We’ve got to make plays.”

A dropped pass became a long interception return for a Morse touchdown late in the third period, a score that erased a 10-7 Ramona lead. Morse added two more TDs in the fourth period to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Bulldogs quarterback Hunter McHargue connected with Jason Laws on a 24-yard TD pass with one second left in the game, but it was not enough. McHargue completed 8-of-23 passes for 92 yards with two interceptions.

Morse struck first within the first three minutes of the game, taking advantage of a Ramona fumble on the Bulldogs’ first offensive play from scrimmage. James Roberts scored two plays after the fumble recovery on a 38-yard run.

Ramona answered back when defensive tackle Preston Johnson pressured quarterback Jamal Anderson into throwing an errant pass that was intercepted by Elias Jauregui, whose 38-yard return set up a 5-yard scoring run by Kalszewski with 7:29 left in the second period. A 27-yard field goal by Ali Aparicio gave the Bulldogs their 10-7 lead with five minutes left before halftime.

Ramona missed an opportunity to pad the lead early in the second half when Christian Drews recovered a muffed punt at the Morse 28-yard line, but McHargue was sacked on third down and the Bulldogs came up empty.

“There were plays to be made," Baldwin said. “We had a zillion opportunities."

The previous week, a young Ramona team lost its opener to Grossmont, 24-20, in a game that had 17 Bulldogs playing their first varsity game.

The Bulldogs host Carlsbad next Friday before embarking on a stretch where four of five games are on the road.

“We got more physical tonight and we have to take that and grow,” Baldwin said. “There are eight games to go and we‘ve got to turn our focus to Carlsbad.”