Capital Christian Loses GEL to Dixon in Heartbreaker 22-6

NOTE: According to calculations made by Patch, Capital Christian needs an at-large bid to make the playoffs. The CIF has not officially ruled the Cougars out of the playoffs as of early Saturday morning.

Knowing what was there for the taking was on the minds of a defeated football team last night.

The Cougars will more than likely need help to reach the playoffs after failing to capitalize on a shot at winning the out-right Golden Empire League title, falling to the Rams 22-6 at Dixon High’s Finney Field.

With Mesa Verde falling to 3-2 after being blownout by Marysville 40-6, and the Rams and Cougars both 3-1, the winner of the Dixon-Capital Christian matchup would win the GEL.

Failing to win league wouldn't be the only missed oppourtunity for the Cougars in one of the coldest games of the year Friday night. 

Two early scoring opportunities for Capital that turned up dry could have been difference-makers had they resulted in points.

A 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Demitiri Crenshaw in the first half was negated by a block in the back and a promising first-and-goal situation from the Dixon two-yard line with time winding down to halftime fizzled due to questionable play-calling.

“We had a chance to change the momentum with the touchdown return on the kickoff,” Cougars coach Phil Grams said. “I’ll have to look at the film but we thought it was a bad call...We get that touchdown, we’re kind of rolling.”

With less than one minute to go in the first half, Dixon coach Wes Besseghini called for a fake punt, which failed miserably. Instead of the kick, punter Chris Rico rushed for a six-yard loss and turned the ball over on downs to Capital at the Dixon 48.

“It was a championship game,” Besseghini said. “We had nothing to lose. So we pulled out every trick we could.”

On fourth-and-two from the Rams’ 40 and time winding down, Jacob Woehler found Austin Wolfe at the Dixon two-yard line to set up first-and-goal with less than 12 seconds left in the second quarter.

Despite the short distance to goal, Grams called back-to-back passing plays. Woehler's first pass was thrown into the hands of Anthony Garza in the end zone, but he bobbled the ball and dropped the pass. The second was thrown at the feet of Wolfe to end the half.

“That’s on me. We should have ran the ball right there,” Grams said. “I was trying to get two plays for one.”

Had his team scored though on both the return and its late first half chance inside Dixon five-yard line, Grams felt things would have been different.

“I think those two plays changed the whole ball game,” he said. “We would have been up probably 21-7 at half instead of down 10-6. I think that changed the ball game.”

The Rams defense forced the Cougars to turn the ball over on downs twice in the first quarter but couldn’t hold them back on their third try. On fourth-and-seven from the Rams’ 28, Cougars quarterback Jacob Woehler found Bo Reid for a 28-yard touchdown to give Capital its only lead at 6-3.

Dixon didn’t waste time retaking the lead on the following drive. Two plays into it, Marcos Pangelinan connected with Anthony Salaber for a 44-yard reception and was tackled at Cougars’ one-yard line. Korey Hall would punch the ball into the end zone on the next play to give the Rams a 10-6 advantage.

The Rams pulled away in the second half, holding the Cougars to just 80 yards of total offense and outscoring them 12-0. The Capital defense allowed Dixon to rush for 177 yards in the final two quarters.

Behind the GEL champion Rams at 4-1, Capital, Mesa Verde and Marysville are all tied for second at 3-2. According to the California Interscholastic Federation Sac-Joaquin Section bylaws, section 1907.11 states the first three-way team tiebreaker is the head-to-head victories of the teams in the tie. With all teams recording 1-1 records in that scenario, the second step is the 13-point system.

The margin of victory of each game between the deadlocked opponents is then determined, with each team allotted or deducted up to 13 points for each win or loss.

Under this system, Marysville would earn the No. 2 seed in the GEL, and the Cougars would need an at-large bid to reach the playoffs. Capital isn’t entirely out of it, having the best overall record in the GEL at 5-5, but needs an at-large bid to advance to the postseason .

The section will release official playoff brackets later today, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011.

Dixon 22, Capital Christian 6

Capital Christian 0 6 0 0 — 6
Dixon 3 7 0 12 — 22

Scoring summary
7:51, 1st: D — De La Cruz 36 field goal

6”35, 2nd: C — Reid 28 pass from Woehler (kick failed)

4:31, 2nd: D — Hall 1 run (De La Cruz kick)

8:14, 4th: D — Pangelinan 18 run (kick failed)

1:03, 4th: D — Hall 11 run (run failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing (car-yards): C — Cranshaw 10-65, Wolfe 8-15, Kirk 1-(-5), Reid 11-43, Woehler 2-7. D — Hall 16-140, Pangelinan 12-61, Bell 2-32, Rico 3-3, Miller 1-0. Passing (comp-att-yards-ints): C — Woehler 8-20-98-1. D — Miller 1-5-5-0, Pangelinan 1-4-44-0 . Receiving (rec-yards): C — McCarthy 2-25, Kirk 1-2, Cranshaw 2-5, Wolfe 2-66. D — Salaber 1-44.

Team offense (rush-pass-total)

Capital Christian — 125-98-223

Dixon — 236-49-285

Fumbles/lost: C 0/0; D — 2/1.

Records: Capital Christian 5-5, (3-2 GEL), Dixon 4-6 (4-1)