RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Rancho Cucamonga football coach Alex Pierce was happy with his team’s start in Friday night’s playoff opener, but he was most encouraged by how his team responded to adversity late in the first half.
When Tustin got on the scoreboard with a touchdown on a 76-yard interception return by Kingston Fatu, the Cougars responded with a touchdown less than two minutes later.
Host Rancho Cucamonga never looked back and went on to a 45-8 rout in a CIF Southern Section Division 2 game.
Rancho Cucamonga (8-3) will host top-seeded Murrieta Valley in the second round next Friday.
“We opened the door for them to get back into it, but we closed it again,” Pierce said. “That’s something we’ve been able to do throughout the season.”
It was as complete a game as Rancho Cucamonga has played all season. The Cougars racked up 412 yards of total offense (and punted only twice), held Tustin to 104 yards and four first downs and special teams didn’t allow the Tillers to begin a drive outside of their own 23-yard line until the final three minutes of the game.
“They’re a physical football team,” Tustin coach Anthony Lopez said. “They create a lot of turnovers. We knew we were going to have to take care of the football and we didn’t. We couldn’t get anything going on offense and even when we did, penalties killed us.”
It was the eighth straight playoff loss for Tustin (9-2), which moved up from Division 3 to 2 this year.
Rancho Cucamonga had built a 17-0 lead before Fatu’s interception return that made it 17-8 2:45 before halftime. The Cougars’ response was a seven-play, 65-yard drive capped by a spectacular 35-yard catch in the end zone by running back James Strong III on a pass from Jacob Chambers with 50.6 seconds before halftime.
“I was just supposed to go out for a swing (pass),” Strong said. “Seeing my quarterback scrambling, I’m like, ‘I’ve got a ’backer on me. I know I’m faster than him.’ I’m supposed to turn up (field) eventually, but I turned up sooner. … I was waiting for him, and he finally threw it up. That was one of my top ones (catches) for sure.”
It was the second of two touchdowns for Strong, who rushed for 75 yards on 11 carries and caught three passes for 56 yards.
The strength of the running game was particularly pleasing for Pierce as the Cougars rushed for 244 yards. A key part of that is Chambers, who is running out of read-option plays more now after an early-season ankle injury limited his ability to run. He rushed nine times for 48 yards and a touchdown on Friday.
“That adds another dimension for him,” Pierce said.
Semaj Smith had a touchdown run in the first half, and Tyree Wilson had a 36-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the second half that put the Cougars in firm control.
Sophomore backup quarterback Treyvone Towns Jr. got into the game late and threw a touchdown pass to Dillion Sykes for the game’s final touchdown.
On defense, Darion Fluker recovered two fumbles for the Cougars.
Pierce told Fluker during the pregame meal that he wanted to produce one turnover and Fluker doubled that output.
