West Mesa pounds Del Norte
Ramirez fuels emotionally charged victory in teams’ season opener
When it was over, the West Mesa Mustangs gave out a hearty standing ovation to one of their own.
But they deserved a decent round of applause themselves.
West Mesa overcame a sluggish start but took advantage of four Del Norte turnovers — two of them deep in the red zone — as the Mustangs thrashed the Knights 34-6 on Thursday night at Nusenda Community Stadium.
“The defense gave us some good opportunities, and even though the offense did start slow, you have to rely on some others on the other side of the ball sometimes,” said West Mesa quarterback Gabriel Ramirez, who ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more.
It was an emotional finish for the Mustangs, for a cancer-stricken player in the school’s YAFL program, 9-year-old Elijah Dimas, served as honorary captain.
After the game, the team stood and paid tribute to Elijah, who was in a wheelchair, dressed in his full football uniform, including pads, with a mask covering
most of his face.
The Mustangs turned the Knights over twice with Del Norte on the verge of scoring in the first half. Brandon Bouldin intercepted a pass at the 5 on the game’s first drive for West Mesa. Later in the first, after Del Norte missed a field goal attempt, West Mesa went 80 yards on three rushing plays, with Ramirez darting along the far sideline for the final 56 yards and a 6-0 lead in the final minute of the quarter.
But the crucial sequence occurred midway through the second quarter. Bouldin stripped Del Norte QB Christian Mejia at the 3, the Mustangs recovered. West Mesa then proceeded to march 97 yards for a touchdown and a 13-0 lead.
Bouldin took a screen pass from Ramirez and did all the work, going 50 yards for a score.
“That was a huge turnover,” West Mesa coach Ron McMath said. Ramirez went a step further.
“Mentally and physically,” Ramirez said, “it destroyed them, and gave us a huge boost of confidence.”
Unfortunately for West Mesa, Bouldin got ejected in the second quarter for a verbal unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. He’ll almost surely miss next week’s game against St. Pius.
Another receiver, Camren Schroer, had an outstanding night, catching a pair of touchdown passes, covering 14 and 25 yards.
The first of those two was the game’s most exciting play. Ramirez threw to the far side, where Schroer and a Del Norte defender jumped, both getting their fingers on the ball.
The ball deflected up in the air, but Schroer caught it as both he and the ball were falling to the ground in the end zone. That came with 15 seconds before halftime, extending the West Mesa lead to 20-0.