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Ravens Overcome Weather For First District Victory

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By CHARLES GONZALEZ, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 6, 2007

TAMPA - In what could only be described as a sloppy, defensive struggle, the Alonso Ravens captured their first district victory of the season against the King Lions, 3-0, and now look ahead to the Gaither Cowboys next week.

The Ravens (5-1, 1-0 Class 5A-District 6) had opportunities to put the ball in the end zone, but let them slip through their hands. As the rain began to pour midway through the second quarter, the game slowed to a snail's pace and neither offense could do anything with the football.

'It wasn't pretty, but the first district victory of the season is important to us,' Alonso coach Mike Heldt said. 'What can you say; they played hard and our defense left it all on the field.

'We couldn't score much at all on them. ... I'm happy that we got 3 and that's all it took. The defense played extremely hard.'

Alonso's offense tried to run the ball between the tackles and used a spread offense, but couldn't find any running room. The Lions' front seven did a good job of jamming the line of scrimmage and not allowing the Ravens offensive line to open up holes.

Ravens running back Eric Brown managed 16 carries for 69 yards and had two receptions for 19 yards. Quarterback Geno Quintana struggled in the passing game, completing only three of 13 pass attempts for 29 yards, leading the Ravens to 145 yards of offense.

Alonso managed to get a 25-yard field goal from place-kicker Joey Dipampo with 11 seconds remaining in the first half. The Ravens had the ball at the 3-yard line with less than a minute remaining, but a fumble and incomplete pass by Quintana kept Alonso out of the end zone.

'It could have been a little bit better and when we play against Gaither next week, we have got to eliminate all those mistakes,' Heldt said. 'But as long as we can win by one point every week, then I'm happy.'

King (1-4, 0-1) had an opportunity early in the second quarter to take the lead when Daniel Zychlinski came on to attempt a 38-yard field goal. However, the holder bobbled the snap and the Ravens thwarted the scoring opportunity.

The Lions managed only 47 yards of offense and had more punts (9) than first downs (4) in the loss. Quarterback Keith Graham finished 4-for-11 for 19 yards and one interception.

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