INLAND FIELDHOUSE

RIALTO – The Indian Springs-Rialto varsity football game on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, was a lot of fun until the lights went out with less than 3 minutes left in the game, causing an 18-minute delay that dragged out the result and the post-game process on a </chefskissemoji> classic.

For Indian Springs, getting to a CIF-Southern Section semifinal was the farthest thing from anyone’s mind late in the regular season as the Coyotes stumbled to a 2-3 league finish. Senior RB Sam Gambrah was a dominant force in the Division 14 playoffs, and the team jumped on his back just as far as he could take them. Unfortunately, he was stopped cold on a couple of crucial single-back play calls and Indian Springs was otherwise stymied in its attempt to get to a championship game for the first time.

Indian Springs head coach Chris Chaddick: “Right now it hurt to be on this end but I’m so proud of them. We fought. It just didn’t go our way. There were a couple of fourth-down stops we didn’t make, those fumbles, anything could’ve happened, but not one could’ve expected us to be here so we’re proud, We have nothing to hang our heads about. We only graduate six players, so there’s a lot of guys coming back (and) the cupboards aren’t bare. I told the players, ‘We still got work to do. The job’s not finished. Let this marinate.’ In a full calendar year to have an undefeated spring season, win a league title and to come to CIF semifinal and play 13 games games in four months – not even the NFL does that. The grit and grind that these guys showed. What they did was a more difficult season than and NFL season because of how it was staggered. I hope this never happens in history again, it’s unprecedented, but for two years those guys did something that’s unbelievable.”

For Rialto, a team that didn’t play during the spring season, this win will be a deeply rewarding memory. The Knights scored early and often and ran the ball on all but one play – a pass that also went for a touchdown – and looked absolutely determined to not lose this game at home a week before Thanksgiving. Senior RB Antoine Fowler’s performance was highlighted in the SoCal News Group game story, but the Knights’ running game accounted for more than 400 yards on 52 of 53 total offensive plays.

Rialto head coach Robert Mitchell: “This feels real good. It’s great because it was a battle between the I.E., and and it’s good to come out and be on top in this Division 14 semifinal. It’s great for our team. This was a whole-team win. I think it’s just we’ve started gelling as an offense. My offensive coordinator, Ryan Newberry, he’s been calling great games the last few weeks and so we’ve gelled. My offensive coordinator called a hell of a game. Our O-line is starting to come together, we’ve started playing together as a team. It took those first four weekd for us to get it right and now we’ve got it going. This means everything, especially since we didn’t play in the Sping. It means the world for our seniors. With us not playing in the Spring it took a lot for us to grow as a whole team. I think it’s great. It shows that the players stuck with us as coaches. After the first four game we didn’t know what was going to happen but they stuck with it. That was hard work right. This is a great win for the team. This a great win for Rialto. For us, this is a place we’ve never been before so it’s great or our community. I think with the kids out of school (next week) it will be important for us to keep our heads. stay focused the whole week. And with there being no school next week it could be good for our focus and for us to stay focused the whole time. Thanksgiving practice. That’s what we play for right there.”

Indian Springs – 8 – 6 – 6 – 18 — 38
Rialto – 6 – 20 – 8 – 22 — 56
First quarter
R – Calderon 2 run (run failed), 6:58
IS – Harris 18 pass from Atlas (Harris run), 2:03
Second quarter
R – Soto 2 run (Calderon run), 11:08
IS – Neal 5 run (pass failed), 8:04
R – Williams 10 run (run failed), 5:23
R – Fowler 11 run (run failed), 0:49
Third quarter
R – Williams 23 run (Calderon run), 8:24
IS – Atlas 6 run (pass failed), 7:23
Fourth quarter
R – Williams 42 pass from Soto (Calderon run), 11:50
IS – Jimenez 27 pass from Atlas (run failed), 10:07
IS – Gambrah 21 run (pass failed), 6:39
R – Fowler 45 run (Calderon run), 6:26
IS – Gambrah 2 run (run failed), 3:18
R – Soto 2 run (run failed), 2:23
Team statistics
Total plays – Indian Springs 73; Rialto 53.
First downs – Indian Springs 24; Rialto 19.
Penalties – Indian Springs 10-65; Rialto 6-59.
Turnovers – Indian Springs 2; Rialto 2.
Individual statistics
Rushing – Indian Springs: Gambrah 15-113, Atlas 12-49, Neal 4-28, Harris 3-20; Rialto: Fowler 19-214, Williams 7-89, Soto 11-44, Gonzalez 4-37, Bass 7-21, Calderon 9-11, Falconer 1-2, Harris 1-(minus-4).
Passing – Indian Springs: Atlas 18-36-2-180, Harris 1-3-0-27; Rialto: Soto 1-1-0-42.
Receiving – Indian Springs: Jimenez 7-81, Harris 5-44, Gambrah 1-36, #14 1-16, Moses 3-15, Ford 1-15; Rialto: Williams 1-42.
Interceptions – Indian Springs: None; Rialto: #33 1-0. #4 1-0.

Photo by Milka Soko for SCNG