DIXON, CA (MPG) – The Dixon High School varsity football team experienced something Friday that they hadn’t experienced since last year – a loss!

The Rams (3-1) were defeated at home 19-6 by Wood (3-2) of Vacaville on Friday evening, September 16. Dixon had extra rest time between games as its bye week was on September 9. The Rams had begun the season with three straight wins: 27-21 at Union Mine (1-2) of El Dorado on August 19, 42-22 at Winters (1-3) on August 26 and 28-26 at Armijo (3-1) of Fairfield on September 2.

Dixon was the first team to score Friday night, as senior quarterback Jett Harris rushed in for the touchdown. However, the ensuing two-point conversion attempt failed. The Rams led 6-0 after the first quarter.

Wood took the lead with under a minute to go in the first half when senior running back Manny Delatorre rushed into the end zone from two yards out. The point after try was successful via the leg of senior kicker Carson Sacca. The Wildcats led 7-6 at halftime.

When San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wins a coin toss, he typically defers to receive the ball in the second half. He does this to “lap” his opponent by scoring before halftime and then scoring against to begin the third quarter. That is exactly what Wood did on Friday night.

The Wildcats drove down the field over four minutes to begin the second half and finished off the drive with Delatorre punching in an eight-yard touchdown rush. Sacca missed the PAT. Delatorre earned a hat trick about three minutes later, scoring a one-yard touchdown for his third of the night. The PAT was missed again.

Following a scoreless fourth quarter, Wood ultimately won 19-6. Statistics for Dixon were unavailable as of press time.

"I believe the loss to Wood was eye opening for our team and staff," said Dixon coach Wes Besseghini to the Independent Voice. "There are still a lot of things we can and need to do better before we get to league. I hope that we can correct those mistakes this week against Fairfield and win our homecoming game."

The senior captain led the way offensively for the Wildcats as Delatorre scored three touchdowns. On defense, senior middle linebacker Jarren Ford had a team-high 12 tackles with seven of them solo. Senior cornerback Zaire Fortune recorded half of his team’s pass deflections with two. Seniors defensive tackles Ian Morales and Nicholas Brown had one fumble recovery each in the win.

The Rams will now pivot to their final preseason game of the season at home against Fairfield (0-4). This week is homecoming and varsity kicks off at 7 p.m. Dixon will be back at home the following week on September 30 to begin Golden Empire League play against Rio Linda (2-2).

Wood will now have its bye week before playing at Fairfield to begin Monticello Empire League play on September 30.