Brown act leads Vista Murrieta to redeeming win over Chaparral

QUARTERBACK HAS HAND IN FIVE TDS AS BRONCOS AVENGE CHAMPIONSHIP LOSS TO PUMAS

BY JEFF SANDERS - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | Posted: Friday, October 15, 2010 12:09 am

MURRIETA -- For 10 months, Derrick Brown lived with a sour taste in his mouth.

His offense had played not to lose in a championship game against its fiercest rivals and ... well ... lost. On a Thursday night in front a raucous home crowd and a regionally televised audience, Vista Murrieta's quarterback finally cut loose.

Brown rushed for two scores, threw for two more and (gasp!) caught a touchdown pass and Vista Murrieta took a step toward redemption with a 45-17 victory over Chaparral in a Southwestern League opener that had as much to do with closing a chapter on deflating defeat a year ago as it did the 2010 season.

"It was very important for us to come out there and make a statement to the rest of the league ---- especially Chaparral," the Utah-committed Brown said. "They beat us last year in the finals and that left a bad taste in our mouth.

We remembered that and came out there fired up and set the tone early."

Did they ever.

Held to a single touchdown in last year's CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship against the Pumas, Brown connected with Darion Williams for a 63-yard touchdown strike on the Broncos' first play from scrimmage, Vista Murrieta's offense turned four Chaparral turnovers into a pair of touchdowns and the Broncos' defense stifled a Pumas team that erupted for 63 points a week ago while routing the defending Inland Division champs.

"It's a great win for us," Vista Murrieta coach Coley Candaele said. "The kids have been looking forward to this game because we felt like we didn't play the game we needed to play to win the championship game. We played conservative and we played not to lose. Unfortunately, if you play not to lose in a championship game, you're going to lose.

"This one, we just let it go and had fun. The big theme all week was celebrate, have fun and enjoy the moment."

And at this moment, the Broncos are sitting on a 5-1 record and have a headstart in the Southwestern League that they won a year ago.

The Pumas, of course, rallied from that defeat, got on a roll in the playoffs and ended their season in December with a 13-7 victory over an undefeated Broncos team that was entertaining the idea of a state bowl berth.

If Chaparral has that kind of run in it in 2010, the Pumas have yet to show much of it during a season that began with talk of national rankings and a path to their own state bowl game.

The Pumas (1-5) dropped their first four games of the season ---- albeit to the likes of Oceanside, Frenso Central, Corona Centennial and Anaheim Servite ---- and have eight offensive touchdowns in their five losses this season. On Thursday, they outgained Vista Murrieta, 455-to-372, ---- with running back Darius Guillory accounting for 126 yards rushing and a score ---- only to fall to the Broncos for the fifth time in their last seven meetings.

"Against a team like Vista, you can't expect to overcome those mistakes," Chaparral coach Tom Leach said. "You really can't. I thought we fought hard and played hard. Just too many mistakes. Way too many mistakes. Against a great team like Vista, you can't do that.

"Hey, we've lost to some great teams. Back to the drawing board. It's still football. I love it."

Brown echoed those sentiments when Vista Murrieta's coaching staff dipped into its bag of tricks after his defense recovered its third fumble of the game following Tyler Rausa's 26-yard-field goal to cap the opening drive of the second half for a 24-14 lead.

Already deep in Chaparral territory thanks to the turnover and two quarterback-keepers, Brown handed off to Aaron Piecukonis and faded off to the visiting sideline as the Broncos' running back veered off right tackle. Then Piecukonis stopped in his tracks, found Brown sprinting down the home sideline and heaved a pass that floated right into Brown's hands for an 18-yard score and a commanding 31-14 lead with 5:50 left in the third quarter.

"I've never caught a touchdown pass before," said Brown, who also scored on runs of 3 and 1 yard, connected with Michael Mazur for a 29-yard touchdown pass and finished with 74 yards rushing and 195 passing. "I was so pumped up when coach called that play. ...  I didn't expect them to run it. When they called it, I was like, ‘Yes! I've got to get this touchdown.

"And I did. I'm pretty pumped."