Dixon Rams continue to spiral down after 42-0 loss to the Linden Lions

Posted by jack bello on Oct 3, 2011 in Telegram Past News

The Dixon Rams will end their non-league games 0-5, to go into their league games for the season. The Rams have struggled all season to score and play good defense. This continued when the Rams lost to the Linden Lions 42-0. The Rams, unlike their other losses, failed to maintain possession of the football. The Rams’ three turnovers cost them badly in their loss, leading to two easy touchdowns for the Lions.

The Rams started out bad in the first half on defense, as the Lions marched right down the field and took a quick 7-0 lead over the Rams in the first 6 minutes of the first quarter. The Rams, on the first play of the first drive, gave up a fumble to lead to a Lion’s recovery. The Lions then scored on a 14 yard pass to open up the lead 14-0 at the 6:59 mark. The Rams then came out looking a bit sharper, and got down to the 43 yard line off a 19 yard run by Marcos Pangelinan.  They then stopped once again to give the ball back to Linden.  The Lions started on their own 46 yard line and slammed the ball right down the seam, scoring another touchdown to open up the lead to 21-0.

To open the second quarter, the Rams started to move the ball down the field slowly. They lost the ball again on another fumble, giving Lions the ball at midfield. The Rams were able to shut the Lions down to force a punt on a three and out. Once again, though, they couldn’t move the ball down the field. They failed to convert, giving the ball back to the Lions. The Lions didn’t waste any time, scoring on a 5 yard run to open up the lead  to 28-0, with 1:22 left in the first half. The Rams then found themselves at their own 20 yard line, once again fumbling for their third turnover of the game.  This time, the Lions had a 7 yard fumble return for another Lions touchdown, giving Linden the lead at half 35-0.

The Rams were absolutely devastated after this multi-turnover half.  The Lions had three touchdowns based off of turnovers.  With three less turnovers, the Lions may have only been up 14-0 at half.

The Rams came back out in the first half, and just didn’t have it to take apart that 35-0 lead. The Rams however played great defense, shutting down the Lions all throughout the third quarter and keeping the deficit the same through the third.

Even with solid defense through the second half, the Lions were able to break through in the middle of the fourth quarter. They scored another touchdown on a 28 yard run to open up the score, finishing off the Rams with the final score of 42-0.

The Rams couldn’t pull it together in their final non-league game of the season. Costly turnovers killed any chance the Rams had of scoring, and making any kind of game out of Friday’s loss. The Rams once again failed to come up with the key plays to convert on third down.  The combination of poor possessions and costly turnovers lead to the Rams’ bitter defeat on offense.

The Rams failed to stop the running game of their opponent.  The Rams gave up 213 yards on the ground on 39 rushes. They must find ways to shut down the run, or they may find themselves struggling against other strong running teams in league play. However, they showed signs of  improvement of defense. The Rams proved that they can have shutdown drives on defense, but also showed that they tend to struggle to make the big stop.

The Rams defense  can’t be blamed for all the Lions’ touchdowns. Three turnovers lead the Lions to three touchdowns. Despite the 42-0 score, the Rams didn’t play that bad. The Rams struggled to play as a team, leading to the three fumbles. They also continue to struggle to complete big plays and defensive stops.

The Rams still have time to turn this season around, but it is up to the players to believe in themselves. This team is still very young, and to hope for this team to figure it out right away would be unrealistic.  The Rams have shown signs of improvement, but have not yet turned those bits of success into a win.

The Rams have nothing but league play left. All games matter now, and there are no excuses to lose. They have to keep working and keep fighting. If they don’t, nothing will change for this team. There will be nothing left but the classic quote “There’s always next year.”

The J.V. Rams, however, played very well. They won another game 49-7 , making the Rams 4-1 on the year.

The Rams will be on the Road once again, playing the Lindhurst Blazers. The Blazers are also 0-5, so someone will come out of this week’s game 1-5.  This game will be on October 7^th at 7:00 p.m.