There were a few things I wanted to mention, following up from Friday night’s Jurupa Hills 31-21 victory over Rim of the World in a Mountain Valley League showdown.
- At the least, it should move No. 3 Jurupa Hills past No. 2 Rim in the East Valley Division rankings.
- The size of the crowd there was a little disappointing to me, although it was not homecoming, nor was it senior night. Perhaps as the newest school in town, Jurupa Hills has trouble growing a fan base especially with perennial power Kaiser also in South Fontana. I understand why coach Ed McMillon is trying to convince people in the community to watch his team play. They are exciting and good and they should get some more support.
- Jurupa Hills had a ridiculous number of penalties, which will need to be corrected if the Spartans want to win a CIF title. By my count, Jurupa Hills had 15 penalties for 140 yards. Rim? They had just three for 20 yards.
- Jurupa Hills’ defense was very impressive, including senior linebacker Deshire Singleton, as well as Nick Navarro, who had his second pick-6 in the last two weeks (a fact I failed to mention in the story). When you hold Rim to 225 yards rushing on 51 carries as a team and intercept them 3 times, you’re doing something right.
- The Jurupa Hills offense stagnated at times, but then showed the ability to break open at any given time.
- One thing I did mention in the story, but bears repeating: Neither of these teams won league last year, but both made at least the CIF-SS semifinals. Rim could still make a playoff run like it did despite losing twice in league last year.
- Can these teams face each other again? It’s possible. But if Jurupa Hills wins out, they will get the No. 2 seed (assuming No. 1 St. Margaret’s wins out). If, as a result, Rim gets the league’s second entry into the playoffs, Rim would have to be on the other half of the bracket from Jurupa Hills and could be no better than a 4 seed. Last year, there were two Mountain Valley League rematches in the playoffs: and both times the team that lost in league, won in the playoffs: Jurupa Hills beating Citrus Valley in the second round, and Rim beating Banning in the semifinals.
Share this
