Dinuba rallies in final seconds to complete comeback victory over Golden West
With the football resting at the one-yard line and less than 20 seconds left to play in the game, everyone on the Dinuba Emperors' sideline knew who was going to get the ball.
It was senior Julian Ramirez — the team's 6-foot, 220-pound fullback.
In double tight I formation, Ramirez got the quick handoff and rumbled into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. Diego Tuttle ran in the two-point conversion and the Emperors held on to defeat Golden West 22-15 on Friday night in a non-league game at Visalia Community Stadium.
Ramirez, who was a 2022 All-West Yosemite League first-team performer as a defensive lineman, registered two of the Dinuba's three touchdowns. He also scored on a four-yard run in the second quarter and finished with 68 yards rushing on 10 carries.
"He's just a big man," Dinuba coach C.J. Lester said of Ramirez. "He's a man amongst boys. When he has the ball or he's on defense, I don't feel there's anyone in the section that can stop that man. He's worked his butt off for four years. He's a four-year player. He deserves everything that he gets this year. I'm super happy that he's on our team."
Ramirez capped off a 10-play, 64-yard drive that began with just a minute and 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Dinuba had a good combination of pass and run on that final drive despite time ticking away.
Emperors quarterback Jayce Prendez completed 3 of 5 attempts for 35 yards. Two of his incompletions came when he spiked the ball to stop the clock. Receiver Nicholas Olivera had two catches for 27 yards, including an 18-yard reception that moved the ball to the Golden West 29-yard line.
Tuttle rushed for 28 yards on the decisive possession. His 11-yard scamper in the red zone set up Ramirez's go-ahead score from the one-yard line.
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Ramirez's touchdown erased Golden West's 15-14 lead.
"Our guys know we condition for four quarters," Lester said. "We're a physical team. We're a physical bunch. We were a physical team last week. We could throw some guys around if we wanted to. They did it. We knew with the time that we had, they went to their three-deep and we knew we could run it still. We pounded it. We're here in this position and we got it."
Ramirez may have scored the final touchdown but it was Tuttle who set the tone for Dinuba.
The 5-foot-7, 190-pound Tuttle erupted for a game-high 227 yards rushing on 34 carries. He also caught a team-best four passes for 80 yards and averaged eight yards every time he touched the ball from scrimmage.
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Tuttle busted loose for 125 yards in the second half.
"We challenged that guy all week," Lester said of Tuttle. "Last week, he was going down with one tackle. This week, we told him, 'You can't do that. You're too good of a running back to go down on one tackle.' And he had a few where he's breaking left and right and he just made things happen."
With 2 minutes and 56 seconds left in the game, Golden West defensive back Francisco Lopez recorded his third interception of the night to hand the Trailblazers the ball on offense at their own 15-yard line.
Five plays later, Trailblazers senior quarterback Raymon Velazquez hit running back Case Anders for a 76-yard touchdown and a 15-14 advantage.
Anders, a junior, did most of his damage catching the ball out of the backfield. He led the team with 10 receptions for 125 yards.
"I was really proud of the boys the way that they played," Golden West coach Travis Anderson said. "They never gave up. Dinuba's a very physical team but I'm very proud of how our kids responded even through adversity, even though trailing for a large part of the game. Our kids stepped up when they were called upon. They made adjustments when we needed them to make adjustments and they never quit."
Dinuba 22, Golden West 15
Dinuba 0 14 0 8 - 22
GW 7 0 2 6 - 15
First quarter
GW – Darryl Toney 22 pass from Raymon Velazquez (Jeffrey Macumber kick), 2:50
Second quarter
D – Julian Ramirez 4 run (Jesus Ramos kick), 10:59
D – Kristian Bobenrieth fumble recovery in end zone (Ramos kick), 2:50
Third quarter
GW – Ball rolls out of end zone for safety, 8:23
Fourth quarter
GW – Case Anders 76 pass from Velazquez (pass failed), 1:42
D – Ramirez 1 run (Diego Tuttle run), :14.3
Individual statistics
RUSHING – Dinuba: Diego Tuttle 34-227, Julian Ramirez 10-68, Dominique Nunez 3-8, Kristian Bobenrieth 3-9, Jayce Prendez 1-(minus) 5. GW: Case Anders 5-0, Raymon Velazquez 8-49, Team-(minus) 16.
PASSING – Dinuba: Prendez 12-20-2 151, Nunez 0-1-1 GW: Velazquez 21-34-2 276.
RECEIVING – Dinuba: Tuttle 4-80, Christian Lopez 3-23, Nunez 1-6, Jimmy Hignojoz 2-15, Nicholas Olivera 2-27. GW: Chris Garcia 5-66, Anders 10-125, Darryl Toney 2-26, Isaac Oceguera 2-40, Isaac Elias 2-19.
Records – Dinuba 1-1, Golden West 0-2.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Dinuba rallies in final seconds to complete comeback victory
