DHS Football: Rams Penalties Key in 20-14 Loss to Lindhurst; Would-be Game-Winning TD Ruled Out-of-Bounds

There isn’t instant replay in high school football, but if there was, could have used it Friday night.

What appeared to be a game-tying and possibly game-winning touchdown catch by Anthony Salaber in the final minute of the Rams' Golden Empire League opener against Lindhurst was ruled out-of-bounds. Had the call gone Dixon's way, the Rams may not have lost it's sixth game of the season to the Blazers 20-14.

Dixon coach Wes Besseghini couldn’t see Salaber’s feet on the catch from his spot on the sidelines.

“From my angle it was hard to tell,” he said. “I have to trust the officials and think that they’re out here for the right reasons.”

Video taken by Dixon Patch show that Salaber’s feet were very close to being inside the end zone on the pass thrown from Rams quarterback Maverick Miller on third-and-seven from the Lindhurst 13. Miller’s fourth down pass to A.J. Bell was incomplete, giving the Blazers the ball with less than 50 seconds to go.

Dixon (0-6, 0-1 GEL) outgained Lindhurst (1-5, 1-0 GEL) by 33 yards and didn't allow the home team to score once in the final 35 minutes of the game. The Rams also failed to take advantage of four Blazers turnovers – three fumbles and an interception – and were hit with 12 penalties for 114 yards.

“We committed too many penalties and that kept us from really dominating the game,” Besseghini said.

Miller started in place of Marcos Pangelinan, who Besseghini said had suffered a strained shoulder in last week’s defeat at Linden. Miller was 12-for-18 with 95 yards passing in his first start of the season.

“He did the best he could to lead this team and we just got to finish,” Besseghini said. “That’s all we can do, keep working hard to try to finish.”

Besseghini said that Pangelinan’s status at playing quarterback is week-to-week, dependent on the senior’s ability to throw the football.

But in terms of being the Rams’ most dynamic offensive weapon, Pangelinan is still, by far, the one.

Playing with the injured shoulder, Pangelinan rushed for touchdowns of 48 and 50 yards, and finished with 99 yards on the ground. Pangelinan also grabbed an interception late in the fourth quarter that stopped a Lindhurst drive deep in Dixon territory.

“He’s a heck of an athlete,” Besseghini said of Pangelinan. “We’re going to use him any way we can. We’re going to use anybody on this team that we can to get wins.”

The Rams trailed from the start, as Blazers’ returner Erick Tallman took the opening kickoff 80 yards to put Lindhurst up 7-0 just 11 seconds into the game.

The Blazers tacked on another touchdown at the start of the second quarter. After Diego Villasenor returned a Dixon punt 35 yards to the Rams’ 31, Christian George rushed the remaining distance on the very next play to put Lindhurst 14-0.

Pangelinan would respond on the second play of Dixon’s ensuing drive, rushing 48 yards to make it a 14-7 game.

The Blazers tacked on its final score late in the third, with George scampering into the end zone from four yards out to make it a 20-7 game.

Pangelinan once again responded for Dixon, this dashing 50 yards for a touchdown and making it a one-possession game.

With the Rams hosting its homecoming game next week against West Campus – which has lost all six of its games by more than 38 points and has been outscored by 287 points this season - Besseghini is still looking forward to recording a statistic that has evaded him in his first season as head coach.

“A win,” he said.

Lindhurst 20, Dixon 14

Dixon 0 7 0 7— 14
Lindhurst 7 7 6 0— 20

Scoring summary
11:49, 1st: L — Tallman 80 kickoff return (No. 66 kick)

11:35, 2nd: L — George 31 run (No. 66 kick)

11:25, 2nd: D — Pangelinan 48 run (De La Cruz kick)

1:21, 3rd: L — George 4 run (run failed)

11:51, 4th: D — Pangelinan 50 run (De La Cruz kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing (car-yards):  D — Hall 14-53, Pangelinan 16-99, Bell 2-(-6), Semeraro 1-4, Miller 2-1, No. 46 1-(-24). L — George 19-148, Zucco 4-(-12), Villasenor 3-9, Tallman 4-8.
Passing (comp-att-yards-ints): D —Miller 12-18-95-0. L —Zucco 2-10-35-1.
Receiving (rec-yards): D —Beukelman 4-50, Salaber 2-27, Bell 3-10, Swanson 1-2, Hall 1-6. L — Tallman 1-26, Blakely 1-9.

Team offense (rush-pass-total)

Dixon — 127-95-222

Lindhurst — 154-35-189

Fumbles/lost: D — 1/1; L — 3/3.

Records: Dixon 0-6 (1-0 GEL), Lindhurst 1-5 (1-0)

GEL Standings courtesy of MaxPreps.

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