Vista Murrieta can't stop top-seeded Corona Centennial

COLLINS RUSHES FOR 283 YARDS AND FIVE TDS IN 45-21 VICTORY OVER BRONCOS

CORONA -- Vista Murrieta's defensive coaches began their search for an answer to Corona Centennial's video-game-like offense early Sunday morning.

Six days later, the Huskies confirmed what has become obvious to rival coaches this season:

There is no answer.

Barrinton Collins rushed for 283 yards and five touchdowns as second-ranked Centennial rolled up 540 yards of offense in lapping visiting Vista Murrieta 45-21 in the CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship Friday night.

"We have a lot of really experienced, good defensive coaches," Broncos defensive coordinator David Olson said. "Everyone had a lot of ideas, but we knew we had to make plays. We knew that if you missed them, they were gone -- and we missed them a couple of times."

Vista Murrieta paid for those misses, too.

In a section championship game for the second year in a row, the Broncos couldn't get off the field enough on third and fourth downs, lost two second-half fumbles and ultimately lost their grip on a game they trailed 21-14 at intermission.

That was more than enough mistakes to allow the Huskies (14-0) to run away with more hardware for their storied program.

Collins added touchdown runs of 13 and 4 yards in the second half, Larry Scott capped a stellar game with a 22-yard touchdown grab from Michael Eubank (189 yards passing), and the Huskies -- the top-ranked team in the state, according to calpreps.com-- celebrated their sixth section title in a brand new fashion:

At home.

"Tonight is really special because it was in our stadium for the first time ever," said Centennial coach Matt Logan, who has led the Huskies to five of those titles. "It made it really neat. The kids were excited. The whole school was excited for that."

Centennial recovered the second of Vista Murrieta's two fumbles with less than two minutes remaining, and Eubank took three knees to set off a wild celebration amid chants of "14 Weeks."

A 15th week is coming, too -- either in the open division state championship game or the Division I state bowl game.

The Broncos (12-2), meanwhile, kneeled in silence around coach Coley Candaele, who has led his program to back-to-back section title games. Vista Murrieta lost to Chaparral last year at home, 13-7, before rallying from their first nonleague loss in six years for a nine-game winning streak that carried the Broncos back to the title game.

"To come from where we came to where we are now is great; it's a compliment to the kids and their effort," Candaele said. "You go into a championship game and you want to win. You are there for a purpose. This year we got beat by a team that's better than us. We needed a couple more turnovers. We needed a couple more big plays."

Vista Murrieta, though, did have a few Friday night.

Linebacker Xavier Stevenson forced a fumble that lineman Jon Sanchez recovered to thwart the Huskies' opening drive. The defense also came up with a fourth-and-2 stop to preserve a seven-point deficit at the half, and the Broncos added their 10th defensive/special teams score of the season when Cody Pieckonis returned a punt 64 yards to trim the Broncos' lead to 38-21 in the fourth quarter.

But the Huskies ---- after refs ruled illegal touching on the onside kick that Pieckonis recovered and overturned what looked like a scoop-and-score fumble return by Su'a Cravens ---- answered with a six-play, 42-yard scoring drive that upped the Huskies' first-down total to 30.

Vista Murrieta, in contrast, collected four first downs in the second half and was outgained by more than 300 yards.

"We worked all week; we just couldn't duplicate that speed in practice," Broncos linebacker Manuel Moreno said. "We changed some things around with the D-line to stop the dive, and I guess we just couldn't stop it. ... That's a heck of an offense. I've never seen anything like it."

The Huskies' defense, which limited Utah-bound quarterback Derrick Brown to 52 yards rushing and 63 yards on 6-of-15 passing, can sympathize with the Broncos.

At least a little.

"It's a battle every practice," Huskies defensive back Dion Bass said. "When we go against our offense and then we go against other guys, there's no comparison."