RANCHO CUCAMONGA — In a game where both offenses marched up and down the field, it was Chaparral football’s special teams that made the difference.
The Pumas turned a bad punt snap, a kickoff recovery and a blocked punt into three straight second-quarter touchdowns on their way to a 54-42 win over Rancho Cucamonga on Friday night.
“They’re so fast and athletic we just had to capitalize on our moments. We were talking about moments all week. We got that lead based on our special teams,” Chaparral coach Andrew Ramer said.
Both teams scored touchdowns on their first two possessions, leaving the score 14-14 early in the second quarter.
Rancho Cucamonga was forced to punt from its own 29 on the next possession, but an errant punt snap went all the way back to the Cougars’ end zone, where Chaparral recovered for a 21-14 lead.
Chaparral (1-2) recovered the ensuing kickoff at the Cougars’ 33 and four plays later, Trevor Schneider scored on a 2-yard touchdown run.
Then the Cougars (1-3) were forced to punt again, and this time it was blocked. Logan Coleman returned it 30 yards for yet another score to make it 34-14.
Including the tying touchdown early in the second quarter, Chaparral scored 27 unanswered points in a span of 6:24 to take control of the game.
“We had some special teams issues which has not been the case (for us),” Cougars coach Alex Pierce said. “Usually, our special teams have been keeping us in games.”
After Chaparral’s flurry of second-quarter touchdowns, Rancho Cucamonga never got closer than 12 points the rest of the game.
Despite the loss and under pressure most of the game, Cougars quarterback Jacob Chambers completed 20 of 23 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns. James Strong III rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns for Rancho Cucamonga
Chaparral quarterback Dane Weber completed 11 of 14 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
“We’re down some DBs. We’re down some linemen. We had some guys we had to move from playing a corner position to playing a safety position,” Pierce said.
But the biggest offensive passing play didn’t directly include Weber.
After the extended homecoming halftime, the Pumas took the ball to start the second half with a double-pass trick play and Kiko Farinas threw an 80-yard touchdown to Tycen Johnson to make it 41-21. Farinas also caught all three of Weber’s touchdown passes.
“That was for my boy Tycen,” Farinas said. “I knew he was going to make it happen. I knew I was going to take the hit, I just had to deliver the ball downfield to Tycen and he was going to do the rest.”
It was a busy day for Farinas. He was one of several Pumas who saw time on offense, defense and special teams.
“They stepped up and played defense. They stepped up and played special teams,” Ramer said.
It won’t get any easier for Rancho Cucamonga, which hosts state powerhouse Corona Centennial next week.
“I like the way we competed to the end,” Pierce said.
