Prep football game of the week: Centennial vs. Rancho
In a bid for its second consecutive CIF-SS Inland Division championship, No. 1 seed Corona Centennial pays a visit to Rancho Cucamonga, which didn't exit the playoffs until double overtime of the semifinals last season.
The juggernaut: Corona Centennial is the football program by which all others in the Inland Empire are measured. The Huskies have the numbers to prove it every season and this one is no different.
Centennial, whose only loss was a season-opening two-point defeat by Ventura St. Bonaventure, is averaging 46.8 points per game and 489 yards per game. The Big VIII League champions, who list 116 players on their roster, haven't scored less than 45 points since a 28-20 win over Santa Ana Mater Dei in the second week of the season.
"We respect the heck out of them," Rancho Cucamonga coach Nick Baiz said. "But we're not going to bow down and hope to keep it close. We want to beat them. I don't think you can come into the semifinals in awe of your opponent."
Been here before: Rancho Cucamonga has won a title in the last three years, albeit the 2008 Central Division championship, but the Cougars were in the Inland Division semifinals last year where it took second-seeded Vista Murrieta two overtimes to eliminate them.
Rancho Cucamonga didn't win its own league this year -- that distinction goes to third-seeded Upland, which is facing Vista Murrieta in the other semifinal -- but its only loss came by 14 points to Upland. Rancho Cucamonga hasn't faced Centennial since losing a 49-47 nonleague game in 2005.
Sticking to the ground: Both of these teams run spread offenses but lean heavily on their running game. Centennial senior Romello Goodman has compiled 2,269 yards and 40 touchdowns behind a mammoth offensive line. The 5-foot-5, 165-pound running back has picked up the pace in the postseason, including a 356-yard, eight-touchdown game in a 56-21 win over Temecula Chaparral last week.
Quarterback Hayden Gavett, who has thrown for 2,000 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions, is just 57 yards shy of 1,000 on the ground.
"They've got a big ole' offensive line and a bunch of fast guys to go with it," Baiz said. "You want to find out if you're good? Play these guys. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward."
Rancho Cucamonga's running game is paced by junior Tyan Washington, who has 1,382 yards despite splitting time in the backfield the first half of the season. Dynamic quarterback Dimitri Morales, who has thrown for 2,060 yards with 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions, has rushed for 626 yards and 10 scores.
Prediction: Corona Centennial 36, Rancho Cucamonga 31
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About Clay
Clay Fowler has been covering high school sports for six years in California and Texas. He was born in Dallas, attended the University of Texas and worked in Central Texas before joining the Daily Bulletin staff in 2006.
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Going to be a fast pace game friday night under the lights. Their will be no Haka dance after the game. Winner will own the Haka until the loser wins it back. While some teams practice dancing, Centennial practices winning Championships! Period!
There is good news,and bad news for the winner of Centennial and Rancho.The good news is they made it to the final.The bad news is they have to play Upland.Nobody wants to play Upland.
Rancho is better than any of you think. I don't think they're better than Upland if Romine keeps playing the way he has been late in the season... but remember when nobody gave RC a chance last season and they took Vista Murrieta to double overtime? Centennial is flat out awesome, but they're not what they were last year. They're not unbeatable and RC has proven it can find ways to win in the playoffs when it looks like they're going to lose.
Upland is perfectly capable of winning the whole thing. In fact, I think they're going to beat Vista Murrieta comfortably. (Remember when Los Osos lost by 8 to Vista, who had a BS fumble reversed that they should have lost on the game-clinching drive)
These Riverside County teams we have been putting on a pedestal don't deserve to be there anymore. Or maybe its that the Baseline teams deserve to be on that same pedestal with them.
Rancho will be doing the Haka after the game as we shock everyone, but the Rancho Fans.. Rancho is by far the best team CC has seen all year..I love the over confidence. I think it will be a great close game.
The U,
I am praying we win, because I want another chance at Upland.. Upland you better get by Vista First, before you worry about CC or RC..
It's funny when you all use common opponent when it happened earlier in the year Upland i believe will beat VM,but the game will be close and a really good game better then this game so you picked the wrong semi final game
foot-ball,
how about when etiwanda lost by a field goal to vista in the final 5 seconds 28-31?
or how about a buzzer-beater hail-mary touchdown called back to lose the game 17-24 to upland? (closest victory by upland, by the way)
or how about a kick return to seal the deal losing 27-30 to rancho?
i thought etiwanda was pretty good :(
i wish we woulda clutched a game here or there......
but good luck upland! you guys deserve to win this year!
i predict upland vs cc, very close game.
Remember no excuses tonight that your best guys were not playing because of injuries or whatever. Your best guys will be the 11 young men playing out on the field at any given time. If your so called best guys can't play then they do the team no good standing on the sidelines. The best players tonight will be playing between the lines tonight on both sides.
No what if's or you had turnovers or the refs were too strict. If you don't want the refs to make the decision for your team to win or lose, then you leave no doubt and lead by 3 or 4 touchdowns. There will be no luck tonight, it will be from hard work all season and the Huskie Nation Will put up 45 tonight. It will be up to the defense to clean up the rest of the mess.
Good luck rancho because football games and Championships are not won on luck.
I think it's interesting how most of the comments here think it's a forgone conclusion that Upland is going to beat VM. This is HS football. Teams can peak and improve faster at this level than in college or the NFL. That's why looking at common opponents in HS football is almost meaningless because so much depends duing what phase of the season that particular game was played.
I would not count VM out especially at home. I have heard they have only lost 2 games at home in the last 42 home games. Home turf is a big intangible in HS football. Also they have a very good coaching staff. I would give the athletic edge to Upland and coaching edge to VM. Of course VM has the home field advantage.
Someone mentioned Upland is going to win comfortably. I highly doubt that happening. Whether Upland or VM wins, I think it's going to be close. However, if one team blows the other one out, I wouldn't be that surprised either because it is HS football.
Upland is gonna smash Vista Murrieta By 3 or more touchdowns. You need more than a running back to beat Upland. Su'a Cravens vista's running back,he is a good back, upland has seen better this season. Murrieta Valley lost to vista murrieta by 9 points. upland could of score about 100 points on Murrieta Valley. valley's DB'S looked like pop warner DB's. i wont even get into their defense, lol. It will not be close.
49-21 Upland
last things first.
@Jerry the U - You're too excited. Upland may win, but they're not smashing anyone else here on out. If they do win, it'll be a squeaker. So go put the drums of victory back in the closet. This is high school football. Anything can and usually does happen.
Nice to see some Rancho fans defending their honor. However, unlike season's past, RC hasn't be slaying any dragons in dramatic fashion. Skinny win here, skinny win there. Yes that builds character, but it doesn't build confidence. Certainly not when you're going into the mouth of the bear. RC has the fight in them, no doubt. But Centennial closes the book on that chapter. Coach has got to be drinking 7-up cause each time he get's close, Centennial is there to close the door. That's depressing. Centennial wins this one - again.
Centennial vs. Upland in the finals with Centennial winning. Too much firepower and speed.
Upland vs VM should be the game of the week.
Heck, just having most of the comments here being about Upland-VM proves my point, Lol!p4sw4u
good call everyone on the Upland win on VM you guys know what your talking about. Why don't you watch the games before you run your mouth
To Jerry the U!!
You had the three touchdown margin right......just the wrong team.
Great game last night seeing my Centennial Huskies control the whole game from start to finish. The Huskie D had Rancho's QB running all night right into our game plan. No dancing on us last night, we made sure of that. Well, I hate to say it, but Cougars enjoy the off season, turn your gear in this week and have a great banquet next Saturday.
I have some great off season music hits that you can listen to from some top artists while you rebuild for next season. The best songs for couger nation as they recover from last night:
10."Never say goodbye" Bon Jovi
9. "I don't want to talk about it" Rod Stewart
8. "Living on a prayer" Bon Jovi
7. "If I could turn back time" Cher
6. "Everybody hurts" R.E.M.
5. "Surrender" Cheap trick
4. "Against all odds" Phil C.
3. "Starting over again" Natalie Cole
2. "Holiday" Madonna-(just in time for the holidays with x-mas around the corner
And #1 hit to listen to for the off season and by popular demand:
1. Could've been so beautiful" Tiffany
Movie buffs, go with: "Here comes the boom", Me, Rancho and Irene! "Batman, the Dark Knight", "Titanic", "The blind side", "The longest yard(S)", "Facing the Giants", "Varsity blues", and a fan favorite to watch in the off season is "Trouble along the way".
See you in the pre-season at our house if you want a re-match, if not, it's understandable. Remember you wanted us and we delivered.
Man its quiet in here, Where are all the Upland fans at?? I thought "nobody wanted to face Upland". I guess nobody asked Vista Murrieta that question. Congrats to CC and VM for advancing to the ship for the second consecutive year!!
Rancho you had a great season this year. Getting back to the semi finals again when everyone else kept overlooking you showed how much heart you boys have. It is sad that this season is over but the good news is that the prep for next year begins.
To RCHS Fan:
I hear crickets, too.
As I stated before, VM's defense is very fast and regardless of what anyone has said, I'm pretty sure they have not faced a team with that much team defensive speed this season.
I didn't think any Baseline teams would make the finals. Now VM has to face the CC juggernaut. It's tough for any HS team to defend the well oiled "Oregon Duck" style type of offense. Again it will come down to coaching and seeing if the defenses have answers for the other team's offense. Should be a close game but I see CC being slightly favored.
Well congratulations to the Baseline for sending to teams to the semis. It's quite a competitive league. It really contributes to an Inland Division on the rise.