Borrego Sun - Since 1949

Another season of football has kicked off for the Borrego Springs Rams, ready to be electric under those lights showing up for those fans filling up the sidelines.

The Rams are in the Manzanita League once again, facing off against familiar faces – Warner Springs, Julian, West Shores, Ocean View Christian, Horizon Prep and San Pasqual.

Last season, the Rams finished 6 – 3 overall and 3 – 1 in league play, coming in second place, with their only loss coming against San Pasqual.

With how well the Rams did last season, there is hope to return to the CIF San Diego Section Division 8-man football championship. But wins must be notched in the win column to get there.

For the first time since the 2019 season, the Rams opened their season at home against St. Joseph Academy on Aug. 25.

Despite taking an early lead and tying the game up, the Rams were shut out completely after the second quarter, as they fell to St. Joseph, 62 – 14.

After St. Joseph elected to defer, the Rams were on offense to start the game, and were in good field position at around the 50-yard line.

Sophomore quarterback and linebacker Chris Alcaraz did a quick toss to senior tight end and defensive lineman Brody White who managed to move forward. And with a facemask penalty by St. Joseph, moved the Rams closer to the end zone. With a pass to senior wide receiver and linebacker Pedro Rodriguez, the Rams continued to move for positive yards.

With 10:05 left on the clock, Alcaraz found an open Wesley Sexton, senior wide receiver and defensive back, who ran it home for the Rams' first touchdown of the new season. The extra-point was no good, but the Rams were up, 6 – 0.

Despite big hits by Rodriguez and Sexton to prevent the Crusaders from scoring, they continued to push for first downs.

Midway through the first, a quarterback keeper for the Crusaders put them on the board. With the two-point conversion completed, the Crusaders took an 8 – 6 lead.

After the Rams could not answer right back, the Crusaders once again had the ball.

On fourth and long, they decided to go for it, and a pass was connected for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, as the Rams found themselves down, 14 – 6.

A sweep play for a pass to Alcaraz gave some forward progress for about five yards and a facemask penalty continued to push the Rams. After a pass interference call against the Crusaders, this pushed the Rams into St. Joseph territory, in the red zone.

With 1:14 left in the first quarter, Alcaraz connected with Rodriguez on the left corner of the end zone for the touchdown. White ran in for the two-point conversion, tie game at 14 – 14.

However, it seemed that St. Joseph made some quick adjustments, figuring out how to get around the Borrego defense and to stop the offense. Right where they left off from the first quarter, the Crusaders scored on a quarterback keeper and with another two-point conversion completed, 22 – 14.

Junior running back and linebacker Abraham Arambula had a big run for the Rams in attempts to answer right back.

However, despite the efforts to chip away, the Rams could not convert any more and were forced a turnover on downs.

The Crusaders were about to score a few more times before the half, capitalizing on mistakes made by the Rams and working around their weaknesses.

At the half, the Rams were down, 42 – 14.

In the third, the Crusaders ran the clock, adding two more touchdowns to the board. In the fourth, the Crusaders scored once more.

The Rams did what they could to notch a couple more touchdowns to their side of the board, but were outscored and outplayed by the Crusaders. It was a hard fought battle to not give up and the Rams did their best to keep their heads up.

The Rams will have a chance to redeem themselves at their next game at Coastal Academy on Saturday Sept. 2, 5 p.m.

The team will return home to face rivals, the Wildcats of Warner Springs in the annual "Battle of the Springs" game on Friday Sept. 15, kick off at 7 p.m.