1 of 10
RANCHO CUCAMONGA — No one said winning an outright Baseline League title would be easy.
Damien was not only trying to finish that off Friday night, but the Spartans were trying to do it by beating Rancho Cucamonga, a team they had not beaten since joining the league in 2014.
And not only that, they were going to have to do it by overcoming a 10-point halftime deficit.
Isaiah Arriaza threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Keyzers with 1:49 left and Damien held on for a 34-31 victory at Rancho Cucamonga High.
Damien finished the regular season 8-2 overall and 5-0 in league. The Cougars (6-4, 3-2), who could have earned a three-way tie for the league title with a victory, finished in third place.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” said Damien coach James Stewart, who took over as head coach during the summer. “It’s been a rough three months. They stuck together and now it’s the third time this year they’ve come back to win. It’s a resilient group. I’m proud of them, I’m proud of the staff.”
The victory wasn’t secure until the final play, when a 41-yard field-goal attempt by junior Romano Annecchini was blocked.
Emotions spilled over after the final play and players on both teams had to be separated. The teams did not do a handshake line after the game.
Cougars coach Ofa Fifita said the goal after Damien’s go-ahead touchdown was a tying field-goal attempt.
“If I had to go back, I’d still probably kick the field goal,” he said. “I had all the confidence in the world in our kicker. Obviously, we didn’t block it up.
“You can’t put it (loss) on the last play. There were plays in the first, second, and third quarters that you could easily say (were the difference).”
The Cougars made a 36-yard field goal and had a 35-yard attempt blocked earlier in the game.
Friday’s game was all defense in the first half, and all offense in the second.
Rancho Cucamonga led 10-0 at halftime as the Spartans were held to just two first downs.
The game opened up in the third quarter, but not immediately. The first three drives of the second half were three-and-outs, before Arriaza threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Travon Garrison with 5:49 left in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 10-7.
The Spartans took their first lead less than three minutes later when Kingston Schirmer plunged in on a 2-yard touchdown run for a 14-10 advantage.
From there, the teams traded touchdowns. Jacob Chambers threw two touchdown passes and scored on a quarterback sneak for Rancho Cucamonga, including a 77-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Sermons with 2:40 to play to give the Cougars a 31-28 lead.
But the Damien answered each time as Arriaza threw touchdown passes of 9, 24 and 35 yards. The Spartans missed their final PAT attempt, giving the Cougars an opportunity at a tying field goal.
Arriaza finished the game with 250 yards on 14-of-25 passing, an impressive feat since he was 1 for 8 in the first half, and added two more incompletions to start the third quarter.
“We didn’t get in a rhythm (in the first half),” Arriaza said. “That’s a good team. They were sending a lot of pressure and playing man (coverage) behind it.
“The guys had to settle down (in the second half). In the first half, we were more cluster formations. In the second half, we spread the field, and went five wide. If they sent pressure, there were going to be lanes for me to run. It (winning league) feels amazing. Credit to the coaches, credit to these guys.”
Chambers, for his part, finished 14-of-29 passing for 347 yards (265 in the second half), with three touchdowns and one interception, with 5:39 to play. That was the only turnover of the game. The Spartans had a chance to extend a 28-24 lead after the interception, but they turned the ball over on downs.
It was a disappointing end for Rancho Cucamonga, and Fifita took some blame for a lack of discipline that resulted in 150 yards in penalties and the fracas that broke out after the game.
“Selfish acts, from top to bottom. It falls on me,” he said. “I’m disappointed that I allowed it. It came back to haunt us. We tried to address it all year long and it got the best of us tonight.”
Fifita, who like Stewart took over as head coach during the summer, anticipated some players will be suspended for the first round of the playoffs next week.
Originally Published: