INLAND FIELDHOUSE

I covered the Riverside Notre Dame-Perris Citrus Hill varsity football game for the Riverside Press-Enterprise on Friday, Oct. 9, 2009 and came away a little awestruck by the talent of Citrus Hill senior Deontae Cooper.

Cooper ran for more than 250 yards and two scores on 30-plus carries and also returned a punt for a touchdown. Big and strong and versatile, Cooper (6-foot-1, 205 pounds) put on one of the finest prep football performances I have ever seen.

He was relentless. Every time he had the football he displayed the exact same intensity and power. He had runs of 22, 31, 19 and 14 yards among his first 15 carries and runs of 15, 11, 16, 10 and 15 yards among his final 10 carries.

Watch a video from the game here.

Unless he ran into a pile, Cooper was rarely tackled. Any defender attempting an arm tackle was treated the same — with indifference — and he ran through leg tackles like a cheetah through brush.

He’s easily the best back I’ve seen this season — and I’ve seen a few. Fontana Kaiser’s Anthony Brown, Riverside North’s Sadale Foster and E.J. Schexnayder, Corona’s Jordon James, Riverside Poly’s Jaron Farmer… they all lack one or more of the attributes that Cooper possesses. Brown, Foster, James and Farmer all lack his size and strength; Schexnayder lacks his speed.

Cooper enrolls at the University of Washington early in 2010. He told me he has committed to the Huskies and will leave Citrus Hill at the end of the semester because he’ll have completed his high school requirements.

Sounds like a great kid, right? Get this — he has a twin brother.

Deontrae Cooper (6-1, 178) returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and caught a 49-yard TD pass in the victory. He might not be as big as his brother, but he looked just as fast. Deontrae is not currently committed to a college or university.

The twins are the stars of what may already be the greatest generation of Citrus Hill football. The Hawks (5-0 overall, 2-0 Mountain Pass) are riding a 33-game winning streak that includes two CIF titles.

Coach Doug Dubois was very energetic after defeating Riverside Notre Dame, 52-10, on Friday. The Titans are one of the few teams to have given Hawks problems. Notre Dame owns a 5-3 all-time record against Citrus Hill.

Usually jovial Titans coach Bob Burt did not really want to be asked questions after the loss. He looked at me, almost gravely, before speaking.

QUOTES FROM AFTER THE GAME:

Notre Dame coach Bob Burt: “They’re not 33-0 for nothing. They’re a hell of a team. We have to regroup now. We have half a season left to play.”

Citrus Hill coach Doug Dubois: “Last week we were upset with the way we played. We don’t have the firepower we’ve had in the past but we do have a bunch of blue-collar kids who work hard. We just have to find ways to move the ball, play good defense — I think that’s going to be our brand — and beat people on special teams. Tonight we were able to do some things in the special teams area and I think we’re going to have to take advantage of those things (going forward). Notre Dame’s a good team. Bob Burt and his coaches are a good staff and they have good kids.”

Last week you didn’t play Cooper from the start. What was the thinking tonight?

“Last week we were trying some new things, to be honest with you. We wanted to get our quarterback on the same page with our receivers and we’re just trying to develop him. He’s a first-year guy and we’re gonna need him if we keep going. We’re gonna need him so we were trying some new things out. Tonight he threw some good balls and he also threw some bad ones. We don’t help him by dropping them either. We got Cooper in early. People got to stop him and they know that. It’s not a secret: Stop Cooper. We know that’s the gameplan and we’re just gonna have to keep doing it.”

What do you think of Deontae performance tonight, specifically?

“He’s a work horse. He plays all downs on defense. I keep saying that if we would just put him on one side of the football that he’d probably run for even more yards. His effort is there. He’s the greatest kid in the world. He’s very humble. It’s not about him. He wants to win a championship but more importantly… he wants to win the next game. He’s the hardest working player I’ve ever coached in the weight room, on and off the field. When he walks in the room people listen. He’s the guy we feed off of. I haven’t coached a kid like that and I’m blessed to do it and I’ve been saying that no matter what level or division or whatever — ‘He is amazing in what he does and brings to the table.’ And I think I’ve seen a few around in the area (like him) but it’s been a while. It’s been a while.”

Citrus Hill RB/DB Deontae Cooper:

It seems like your stamina and power went unmatched tonight. What’s that like?

“It felt great. We pride on lifting weights so lifting weights everyday keeps me healthy and well-conditioned. So that keeps me in shape.”

What made the difference tonight? Were you out of your mind or did you get some help?