INLAND FIELDHOUSE

SAN BERNARDINO – What impressed me most about the Cajon-Aquinas varsity football game on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, happened on the first play of the game.

Cajon senior QB Evan Powell hit Bjorn Birmingham on a short slant and Birmingham did the rest, shaking a defender and sprinting about 70 yards to the end zone for a 6-0 lead. In addition to being the first play, it also was the longest play as the Cowboys’ offense proved its efficiency in the first half but fell asleep atop their horses in the second half, producing their only turnover and just 85 yards.

Nick Rogers: “We came out unfocused in the second half. We jumped out and played a really good first half, executed extremely well and then we lost focus going into the second half and it showed. Again, we had some guys playing some different positions. They changed their offense and it’s what they had to do when they lost their quarterbacks. We have to get better, and we have to learn how to finish games and not make dumb mistakes. They know they rankings don’t mean a whole heck of a lot and that the end of day it’s about getting to the playoffs and winning some games and unfortunately the last couple of years we haven’t won in the playoffs. When you play Division 2 it’s tough but if we want to play at that level, we have to step up our execution. That’s the main thing.”

Jordan Brusig: “It keeps freaking happening to us. It’s like we can’t a game unless somebody scores on us. It’s a problem but it didn’t faze us. It was just like, ‘Alright, we just have to go score now.’ Just play hard and give our guys the ball that needs the ball and rely on our offensive line and play good defense. We had a great second half. Not the outcome we wanted but there were things that we did well and things we can build on. We’re trying to build something new every week and just build, build, build, and I’m just really proud of these guys and their effort and their relentlessness. Say what you want, (Cajon) is a good football team, but you can’t spot them 21 points and we did but man we battled again. We’re getting better. We had to (switch to the Wildcat formation) at halftime. You don’t ever expect to lose both QBs. It’s just easier to be able stay in our offense and give our ball to the guys that need the ball. We’re not doing something new, it’s just the guy that started with the ball is a different guy. Yaqiym (Halliburton) has tons of confidence, so does Jo (Solis) so there was no doubt that we could put it in their hands, and they’d make some plays. (Solis) needs the ball. Yaqiym needs the ball. We lean behind our offensive line, and they did a better job tonight than they’ve ever done. We’re getting better every week (and) building a solid foundation. Losing sucks but one of these times we’re going to get them and not have to be 21-nothing down.”

Cajon – 24 – 7 – 0 – 0 — 31
Aquinas – 3 – 7 – 0 – 6 — 10
First quarter
C – Birmingham 80 pass from Powell (Sly run), 11:45
A – Halliburton 37 FG, 6:31
C – Sly 33 run (Papatsos run), 4:10
C – Papatsos 1 run (Rivers run), 0:29
Second quarter
C – Holley 5 run (Rubio kick), 8:33
A – Solis 3 run (Halliburton kick), 0:49
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
C – Halliburton 8 run (run failed), 6:11
Team statistics
Total plays – Cajon 46; Aquinas 64.
First downs – Cajon 13; Aquinas 19.
Penalties – Cajon 10-82; Aquinas 7-50.
Turnovers – Cajon 1; Aquinas 1.
Individual statistics
Rushing – Cajon: Holley 8-56, Sly 7-55, Powell 1-16, Papatsos 8-15, Rivers 5-14, Coward 1-0, Miles 1-(minus-10); Aquinas: Solis 29-189, Reyes 5-14, Halliburton 11-9.
Passing – Cajon: Powell 8-11-0-160, Holley 2-4-1-18; Aquinas: Reyes 7-8-0-84, Halliburton 1-1-0-29.
Receiving – Cajon: Birmingham 2-82, Miles 3-44, Rivers 2-41, Rennick 2-7, Papatsos 1-4; Aquinas: Badelle 3-54, Fakava 2-49, Bracy 1-6, Halliburton 1-5, Solis 1-(minus-1).
Interceptions – Cajon: None; Aquinas: Britton 1-0.