After the snap, Santa Maria High School wide receiver John Ramos took off downfield, and his quarterback, Blake Truhitte, threw him a bomb.
Ramos had a step on the Montebello Schurr cornerback, and both players leapt for the football. It ricocheted off their hands and seemed destined to hit the ground. But Ramos stayed with it, dove, and miraculously managed to get his hands around the ball with only inches to spare.
“I was just really focused on the ball,” the senior told the Sun. “I just kept my eye on the ball the whole time and came down with it.”
The jaw-dropping catch, which led to a touchdown in the first quarter of Santa Maria’s 42-21 triumph over top-seeded Schurr in the CIF Southern Section Division 12 quarterfinals, got shared widely as a clip on social media and stood as a fitting symbol for the Saints’ entire storybook season this fall.
In just a couple of years, Santa Maria football has transformed itself from a perennially struggling program to a league champion. And now, it’s the team that’s advanced the furthest in the playoffs on the Central Coast. The Saints will face Big Bear in the CIF finals at Santa Maria High School on Dec. 2, after a 35-14 walloping of South El Monte on Nov. 24.
“We came a long way from where we started,” Ramos said, reflecting on his freshman year. “We really put in the work, and it’s showing off.”
Ramos has been a huge component of that success. Against Schurr and El Monte, he reached the end zone four times, and, over the course of the season, he’s compiled 978 receiving yards and nine touchdowns—both team leaders.
But all wide receivers are dependent on the abilities of their quarterbacks. Ramos said he’s lucky to have a great QB, and a friend, in Truhitte.
“We’re good friends off the field, and on the field we have a really good connection,” Ramos said. “He knows where I’m going to be at when I’m running my routes, throws it right before my break, and gets it to me. He knows my pace and how fast I run. He just knows where I’m going to be at, at all times.”
With the entire Santa Maria community’s eyes on the Saints as they look forward to the championship game, Ramos said he’s trying to take each day at a time and not put added pressure on himself or the team.
“We’re just going to enjoy the moment but be focused for the game,” he said. “We’re excited. We’ve only been here so many times as a school.”
This article appears in Nov 30 – Dec 7, 2017.
