As the regular season came to a close,  varsity football made the journey to Ramona in search of positive momentum to bring into CIF. Despite the strong start, the Lancers fell 53-37 to the Ramona Bulldogs.

The Lancer defense held strong through the entire first quarter. A fumble recovered by junior Kellen Peet on the one yard line kept the score at a 0-0 stalemate.

Unfortunately, the Lancers later gave up three touchdowns in the second quarter after responding to a 30 yard field goal by junior Collin Riccitell putting the score at 21-3.

“The coaches gave us a very motivating half time talk,” senior Tyler Bolwell said. “We came out to the second half determined and hungry to put points on the board.”

The Lancers came into the third quarter with a promising performance. After allowing a touch down, the offense went on a successful drive that brought a touchdown from senior Chris Spearing. Soon after both senior Dylan Rutledge and junior Troy Cassidy lead the charge to out scoring Ramona 20-10 bringing the score to 37-23.

Momentum continued for Carlsbad into the fourth quarter with another touchdown from senior Chris Spearing closing the gap to 37-30. With the majority of the fourth quarter to go, lancer defense fought hard to hold back Ramona’s offensive weapons. With one more touchdown from senior Dylan Rutledge the final score was 53-37 and Ramona took home the win. Despite this loss many positives were taken from the game as CIF is around the corner.

“The game showed some of our weaknesses so we can fix and improve them in the coming weeks of practice,” Bolwell said. “We must improve our special teams, some defensive issues, along with some offensive technique to give us the advantage.”

Carlsbad has a rematch at Oceanside High School on Nov 21 for the first round of open division playoffs. With an extra week off, the team now has time to train, prepare, and plan how to take down the undefeated Pirates under the guidance of Coach Mac and his staff.

“The coaches have put in countless hours off the field planning, watching film, and one-on-one training with each position unit to make sure we are firing on all cylinders leading into the game next Friday,” senior Alex Boerlin said.

Looking back at the regular season game against Oceanside, the Lancers put on a strong fight against the Pirates. With the support of the always spirited loud crowd and parents, there is a true reason to believe Carlsbad can get the win against Oceanside.