Diamond Ranch 21 Chaffey 14
ONTARIO - Chaffey held the ball an astounding 36 minutes and 17 seconds Thursday night. If only the Tigers could've held a lead.
Diamond Ranch possessed the ball for 4:08 of the 24 minutes in the second half but walked away with its first win of the season, a 21-14 victory at Chaffey High.
Diamond Ranch (1-3) ran nearly half the amount of offensive plays as Chaffey (1-3), but when the Panthers did have the ball they were successful, evidenced by three first-half touchdowns in five possessions and a 21-8 halftime lead.
We felt like we could score at any time," Diamond Ranch coach Roddy Layton said. "Chaffey is good at what they do; they've been doing it for lots of years. But they were running out of time in the second half."
Had the Tigers finished one of their lengthy marches at the end of the first quarter, their ball-control running game that produced 247 yards may have been exactly what the doctor ordered. But Diamond Ranch linebacker Bryant Cox turned a bad pitch into a 79-yard fumble return that gave the Panthers a 14-8 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
"That was a huge momentum changer because we're on their 16-yard line," Chaffey coach Chris Brown said. "If we score there we're up 14-6 or 16-6. Instead we're down."
Cesar Carillo, who was 7-of-14 passing for 126 yards, connected with Marquise Cherry for a 30-yard touchdown on Diamond Ranch's ensuing possession to stretch the lead to 21-8 with 2:48 left in the first half.
Of Chaffey's two 16-play drives in the second half - the two marches combined lasted 19:54 - only one produced a touchdown. Thanks to three fourth-down conversions on a 56-yard touchdown drive Julian Bernardino, who carried 38 times for 176 yards, reached the end zone but with only 2:09 remaining in the game.
"We held the ball tonight, so there were some good things that happened," Brown said. "I honestly thought we'd be ahead of where we are right now. Colton exposed come weaknesses and Damien exposed some more, but we feel like we've lost to three pretty good teams. We've got a young team and they're starting to get better."
In its last game before beginning Hacienda League play, a Diamond Ranch team that has reached back-to-back CIF championship games was in need of a win to gain some momentum.
After dropping close games the last two weeks, Thursday's victory gives the Panthers something to build on.
"I'll take a win any way I can get it right now," Layton said. "We feel pretty good going into league."
