INLAND FIELDHOUSE

CHINO HILLS – What impressed me most about the Chino Hills-Damien varsity football game on Friday, Oct. 7, 2023, was the patience and practically from Damien.

The Spartans moved the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball more than expected and that created spaces to exploit. Chino Hills got on the scoreboard on its first possession, but Damien was never over-extended in its attempts on offense and sophomore QB Isaiah Arraiza has tremendous poise. He completed his first eight pass attempts – including a TD to his TE – and was in control from the start.

Matt Bechtel: “(The defense) played huge tonight. To hold Chino Hills to seven after they scored 30-plus against a pretty good Etiwanda team, I think that says a lot about the group of kids and the coaches that are preparing them. We see those guys every week, so we know how good our Front 7 is and I’m just proud of how they’re playing. I felt like we were lethargic on offense. I thought we looked slow or as explosive as I think we can be and part of that, I think, is the long stretch of eight games in eight weeks. Isaiah does a great job. We had some protection issues and different moments. I thought our receivers could’ve done a better job. But overall, we’re happy to be 2-0 in this league (and) happy to be 8-0 overall but we’ve got a lot of work to do still.”

Keland Johnson: “They have a great O-line and a great D-line and it shows and making us one dimensional worked in their favor tonight. Our guys were ready to play I just give up to Coach Bechtel and his squad. It’s a hell of a squad over there. We ran into a wall today and they were a better team. We’ve got to keep that turnover ratio down and that just hurts us given a high-powered offense like (Damien). We have Rancho Cucamonga next week, so it doesn’t get easier in the Baseline League. We’ve got to go back to work, have a good week of practice and come out and compete.”

Damien – 7 – 14 – 10 – 3 — 34
Chino Hills – 7 – 0 – 0 – 0 — 7
First quarter
CH – Thompson-Delgado 36 pass from Ellison (Orozco kick), 9:37
D – Escarcega 15 pass from Arraiza (Yado kick), 4:24
Second quarter
D – Eguia 2 run (Yado kick), 7:51
D – Escarcega 27 Int. return (Yado kick), 7:06
Third quarter
D – Yado 33 FG, 7:32
D – Young 79 run (Yado kick), 0:41
Fourth quarter
D – Yado 42 FG, 10:34
Team statistics
Total plays – Damien 70; Chino Hills 50.
First downs – Damien 15; Chino Hills 9.
Penalties – Damien 12-110; Chino Hills 8-72.
Turnovers – Damien 0; Chino Hills 3.
Individual statistics
Rushing – Damien: Young 7-101, Eguia 11-50, Najjar 7-37, Arraiza 9-23, Burnes 2-10; Chino Hills: Ellison 2-4, Quijas 15-3.
Passing – Damien: Arraiza 12-21-0-127, Gonzalez 0-1-0-0; Chino Hills: Ellison 6-13-2-81, Vasquez 4-10-1-31.
Receiving – Damien: Bechtel 3-49, A.Gutierrez 3-23, Lannon 2-23, Don 2-19, Escarcega 1-15; C.Gutierrez 1-13, Young 1-0; Chino Hills: Thompson-Delgado 3-58, Johnson 3-26, Bateman 2-22, Childress 1-9, Quijas 1-(minus-3).
Interceptions – Damien: Williams 2-42, Escarcega 1-27; Chino Hills: None.