Five Turnovers End REV's Perfect Season
Redlands East Valley climbed to 12-0 last week with a 38-7 spanking of Norco, and it seemed as if the Wildcats were headed for a CIF title game at the Home Depot Center. All they had to do was get past Corona Santiago, which was 7-4 and had lost in league to Norco.
But it didn't work out. Not even. Final score: Santiago 25, REV 10.
Here is what went wrong for REV:
1. Three lost fumbles, two interceptions by REV.
REV's turnovers: A lost fumble by Chris Polk on first-and-goal at the 9 when it was 8-0; a lost fumble by Tyler Shreve on a sack at the Santiago 39; a Polk fumble at the Santiago 29 when it was 22-10; a Shreve interception at the Santiago 6 at 25-10 in the fourth quarter; a Shreve interception from the Santiago 22 with 1:39 to play. That's four turnovers inside the Santiago 30.
2. Zero turnovers by Santiago. This includes at least four fumbles that the Sharks got back. Including a snap that flew right past their quarterback and was pounced on by their tailback for a loss of 8, and an Anthony Dye fumble that bounced right back up to him.
3. Santiago had more speed and skill players than did REV. B.J. Iverson, Kenroy Davis, Derrick Dawson, Marlion Barnett and Dye all were dangerous in the open field. REV had only Polk. Santiago's backs broke "outside contain" several times; REV did, oh, never.
4. Dye outplayed Polk. These two were THE star players on the field. The former is verbally committed to UCLA, the latter to USC. Dye not only ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries (to Polk's 163 on 32), he played defense all night and was in on at least a dozen tackles, including three or four of Polk in the open field when a whiff would have meant a REV touchdown.
Santiago was a decent team playing a tough schedule until it was trashed by Corona Centennial ... and then got Dye into the offense -- where he now is the main man. The Sharks are now 8-4 and headed for the final, and probably a rematch with Centennial. (Good luck with that.)
REV coach Kurt Bruich, on Dye: "He's an absolutely great football player. He's put this team on his back and he's carrying them."
Plus, REV was just unlucky. Trey Farquhar had a 54-yard field goal attempt bounce off the cross bar on REV's first possession; the rain made passing difficult, negating what should have been a REV advantage; the turnovers that bounced the wrong way. Etc.
But, at the end, REV was a little too one-dimensional: Chris Polk left, right and center. Santiago had more options, made more big plays ... and cashed in on them. REV went 12-1, which is a heck of a season. But, in retrospect, the Wildcats may have peaked back in September, when they defeated North, Compton Dominguez and Colton in succession. They seemed to lose their edge while coasting through a weak Citrus Belt League and, aside from the Norco game ... they weren't quite the same again.
San Bernardino County, shut out from the finals ... unless Colony of Ontario wins its semifinal game in the Central Division tonight.