Prep football game of the week: Chaffey at Chino Hills
This game's determining factor is clear to Chaffey coach Chris Brown. Of course, games involving Chaffey usually aren't wrapped in perplexity.
Chaffey throws the ball a handful of times on a busy night; the rest of the time "you know what's coming, but they get the whole student body moving in the same direction," Chino Hills coach Derek Bub said.
The heavyweights of the class will be leading the way - Chaffey returned the entire hulking offensive line that helped it to a Mt. Baldy League title last year - but Chino Hills has a way to combat that.
"It'll be our size," Brown said, "against their athleticism."
"If you look at their Website, they're not really all that big but all of their kids are ripped," Brown continued. "They're in great shape."
With a similar cast on both sides, Chino Hills ran away with a 32-14 win last season at Chaffey. Huskies quarterback Ryan Verdugo, who threw for 90 yards and two touchdowns on just eight pass attempts in their meeting last year, returns with another year of experience. Replacing the crux of the 2008 Chino Hills offense is running back Nate Harris, who rushed for 89 yards and two scores on just 13 carries in the Huskies' 30-6 season-opening win over a Lakewood Mayfair team that reached a CIF championship game in '08.
The eye-popping statistics thus far, however, belong to the Chaffey running game. Ronald Douglas, who was taken out of a 34-10 win over Alta Loma following the first series of last week's second half, racked up 229 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.
"That's by far the best he's looked since he's been here," Brown said. "Number one, he protected the ball well. Number two, he ran with power. He was making one cut and he'd go."
Of course, added Brown, an offensive line that includes four second-year starting juniors who weigh a combined 1,050 pounds looked pretty good too. Granted this was against an Alta Loma team converting to a new offense and defense under first-year coach Jose Fuentes. So, take those eye-popping stats for what they're worth.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS
While Chaffey's recovery from the loss to Chino Hills last year included eight consecutive wins and a Mt. Baldy League championship, it was missing a playoff victory.
Meanwhile Chino Hills, a tri-champion of the Sierra League, won one playoff game and was a Los Osos last-second comeback from the semifinals. Seeing as they are ranked second in the lastest CIF-SS Central Division poll, the Huskies may be better than they were in '08.
"It's no secret," Bub said, "I'm sure Chaffey would love to come in here and give Chino Hills a thumping. This year there are probably a lot of teams who would love to beat Chino Hills."
A win over a CIF-title hopeful would admittedly do big things for Chaffey's psyche.
"It'd would be huge knowing we could beat a team of that caliber," Brown said. "It's been a while since we won in the playoffs, so it would be good experience and hopefully it would help us in the playoffs."
Comments
That kid from Chaffey is fast strong and has a good feel for the open field, but the Huskies bring a veteran disciplined defense. One dimensional offenses will find it hard to beat the Huskies. My prediction is that the kid gets his carries and yards, but the Huskies will beat them with attrition.
Posted by: Red Barron | September 9, 2009 10:13 PM