Special Teams Spark Poway's 33-7 Win Over Ramona

The Poway High School football team found special ways to remain unbeaten Friday night.

The Titans scored on a punt return, a safety and a free kick return, all in the game’s first 15 minutes, fueling a 33-7 rout of Ramona in the Palomar League opener for both teams.

“We worked hard all week on special teams, especially with the extra week of practice since we had a bye week,” said Poway junior Ryan Sharpe, who scored the game’s first points on a 56-yard punt return just 1:20 into the game. “Special teams is one-third of the game.”

“We gave them 16 points on special teams,” said Ramona coach Damon Baldwin. “That’s a good team, and that wasn’t something we could afford to do.”

Following an exchange of punts after Sharpe's TD return, Poway’s Teddy Anderson blocked a Ramona punt out of the end zone, giving the visitors a 9-0 lead with 9:14 left in the second period. The ensuing free kick was returned 65 yards for a score by Derek Babiash, and Poway had a 16-0 lead without the need of any offense.

A pair of interceptions by Brian Guendling and Max Michaels set up two more second-quarter scores that sent the Titans to a 30-0 halftime lead. Nehemiah Gross scored on an 8-yard run four plays after Guendling’s interception, and Andrew Aguirre gathered in a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Gabriel Isaak just one play after Michaels’ pick.

Despite having just 114 total yards and four first downs after two quarters of play, Poway (5-0-1) had a 30-point lead over the Bulldogs (1-5).

“Our hats are off to the defense and special teams,” said Poway coach Damian Gonzalez, whose team is off to its best start since the 2007 CIF championship season that concluded with a 12-0-0 record.

“Our defense has been working hard and we knew what we had to do,” said Guendling, a senior defensive end who also had one of Poway's three quarterback sacks on the night. Linebacker Alec Moreno had the other two sacks.

The Bulldogs were also coming off their bye week after a less successful preseason that showed Ramona winning just one of five games, the opposite of last year’s 4-1 nonleague campaign.

“We have played most of our first five games with five or six starters out with injuries,” said Baldwin, who started his third-string quarterback (Hunter McHargue) after losing Travis Stevens (broken leg) and Josh Mafaffey (hamstring) to season-ending injuries.

Ramona did finally get on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter when a 3-yard TD run by Kirk Kaliszewski capped a 17-play, 79-yard drive by the Bulldogs. A 23-yard field goal by Poway’s Ben Faller capped the scoring with 4:13 remaining.

Kaliszewski led all rushers with 78 yards on 22 carries, but Ramona managed only 143 yards of offense for the game.

The Titans rushed for 151 yards, led by Gross’s 62 yards on 15 carries.

“One of our goals was that we really wanted to run the ball, and that was something we were able to do in the second half,” Gonzalez said.

Poway has now won two straight games over Ramona in a longtime rivalry that dates back to the old Coast League in the 1970s.

Ramona returns to nonleague play once more next Friday for a road game at Oceanside, while Poway continues Palomar League play by hosting Westview.