The Cathedral City Lions defeated the Desert Mirage Rams 28-0 in Cathedral City, giving the Lions a home win for the first time in most people’s memory.

After the game was over, both coaches were talking about how their teams can improve in the coming weeks. Let’s start with Cathedral City.

Head coach Richard Lee said he believes his team might be a little afraid to be a good team. The Lions are 2-2 now, but Lee said he’s not sure his team knows how to get better or be a team that is more than just kind of  a .500 (or just below) team.

The Lions showed some strong running Friday night and certainly played strong defense against the Rams, who were outsized and outmanned. The key for Cathedral City will be beating two teams in the DVL that they believes they can play with, Coachella Valley and Indio, and then beating one of the big three, Palm Desert, Palm Springs or La Quinta to get to three league wins and earn a CIF playoff berth.

On the other side of the field Friday night, the Rams fell to 0-5. But the key for Desert Mirage is knowing that the team will have a chance to get healthy during a bye week before starting De Anza League play in two weeks against Desert Hot Springs.

The Rams may be outmanned by Desert Valley League teams, but against DAL teams, the Rams seem to have the spirit and the determination to be far more competitive. A playoff berth might be hard to come by, but a few win in the De Anza League could be in reach for the Rams. Head coach Ron Alford told him team after Friday’s loss to keep their heads up, to be proud that they played hard against the Lions and to remember that their league record is 0-0. Try to let’s the preseason 0-5 go, Alford said.