INLAND FIELDHOUSE

I covered the Corona Centennial-Riverside Poly varsity football game for the Riverside Press-Enterprise on Friday, Oct. 17, 2009 and came away thinking Centennial has the kind of depth rarely found on local rosters.

Watch a video from the game here.

The Huskies (5-1 overall, 3-0 Big VIII) had nine players carry the ball on Friday. Senior Denzel Hawkins (5-foot-7, 185 pounds) and junior Dion Bass (5-9, 190) both gained more than 90 yards on the ground. Sophomore Romelio Goodman (5-4, 140) added 40 yards on six fourth-quarter carries.

Senior QB Michael Arredondo (6-0, 175) and junior QB Michael Eubank (6-5, 220) both threw for more than 100 yards and a touchdown. Freshman QB Michael Darr (5-9, 160) also made his first appearance with the varsity. He completed one pass for three yards.

Centennial dressed 84 varsity players on Friday. Poly had just 46.

The Huskies’ defensive depth showed in the second quarter, holding the Bears to three consecutive four-and-out possessions. No fewer than 25 players rotated in and out during the three series.

The score at halftime, 35-10, was closer than the play on the field indicated. Centennial posted 28 unanswered points in the second quarter to blow the game open. The Huskies may have started slowly but they’ve now shown just how quickly they can pick up the pace.

Poly (3-3, 1-2), which had scored on its first two drives of the game, failed to put the ball in the end zone again until the fourth quarter. Of the Bears 33 first-half plays only 10 resulted in a gain of more than two yards.

Things only got worse for Poly in the second half. Junior QB Matt Okey’s second pass attempt of the third qaurter was intercepted and promptly returned 34 yards for another Centennial touchdown.

Following the pick-six from junior DB Chris Gonzalez (6-0, 180), the Bears gained only five first downs the remainder of the game. With the score now obviously out of reach, Centennial was left to substiture liberally. Several JV and freshman players were able to contribute and earn their letters.

Centennial coach Matt Logan — “I’m really happy with this win. Our offense executed and we were able to do some things tonight. We were even able to play some of the young players, which is good. Our defense set the tone in the second quarter and I think we’re finding our niche on that side of the ball. We were focused and our game plan was tight. We got Dion (Bass) going early. He had an infection last week and didn’t play. We’re trying to get him in shape. He’s a big part of what we do. Just usual Denzel (Hawkins). He did his work. We hit some good passes and both (Michael Arredondo and Michael Eubank) did a reall good job. We were able to play five QBs tonight. I’ve never done that.”

Poly coach Jeff Huerta — “We played a good quarter-and-a-half of football but we didn’t play a full four quarters. Their line played really good on both sides of the ball. We got down and got a little tight.”

Centennial QB Michael Eubank — “The end result is exactly what we wanted. We put in a complete week of practice. The story here is that we put it all together.”