Broncos step up, but Huskies too good

CORONA ---- It's a bitter pill to swallow when you have to stand there and watch the opponent you just fought for 48 grueling minutes hoot and holler.

It's even tougher when you do it for the second year in a row.

But there was a silver lining for Vista Murrieta's football team in the wake of its 45-21 loss to Corona Centennial in the CIF Southern Section Inland Division championship Friday night.

The Broncos are getting there, step by step. They are not an elite program just yet, but they are closer. Effort alone nearly took the this team to the very top.

"We fought to the end," Vista Murrieta quarterback Derrick Brown, the Utah-bound bulldozer of a signal-caller said afterward. "I've got to give it to Centennial – they're a great team.

"We got here on pure determination," he added. "We gave it everything we had.

We worked really hard."

And as the final seconds ticked off the clock at Centennial High School, the sense was a marked difference from a year ago, when the Broncos fell in this Inland Division title game, in a winnable game on their home turf to a bitter rival in Chaparral.

This time, the Broncos had much to feel good about. And while Chaparral's 2009 team was solid, this Centennial team was amazing. Amid the dizzying movement of the Huskies' offense, the Broncos felt they stepped forward.

The Huskies aren't ranked No. 1 in the state for nothing. Running back Barrinton Collins was ridiculously fast – as evident by his 283 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

Quarterback Michael Eubank runs their pistol-spread, lightning-fast offense to expert efficiency. And the offensive line, the unsung heroes for the Huskies, block like banshees despite their relative lack of size.

"Across the board, they were better than us," Vista Murrieta coach Coley Candaele said. "It's just plain and simple." Well, maybe not that simple.

Centennial proved its worth. Vista Murrieta proved something in defeat, too.

The Broncos played the Huskies as close as anyone has this year. Vista Murrieta was within a touchdown at halftime. Respect was earned, even if the Huskies did start to pull away. Even if Collins just became too much, too quick, and too shifty.

"They play so dang hard and so dang tough," Centennial coach Matt Logan said of the Broncos. "We thought if we ran the ball we would soften them up and wear them down"

Yes, the Broncos probably started to wear down. But they didn't go away, not even when Centennial put 17 points on the board in the third quarter.

They had a glimpse of hope in the fourth, when, after Cody Piecukonis returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown, they appeared to catch a break on a Collins fumble.

Su'a Cravens scooped up the ball and nothing but green turf and the Corona night sky in front of him. But officials blew the play dead, drawing the ire of all those wearing Broncos blue.

That included Candaele, a consummate professional, who offered a telling moment of pure emotion. Off came the headphones, slammed down on the ground. Then came a timeout, and the eighth-year head coach pleaded his best with the officials.

The would-be touchdown would have made it a 38-28 game with 4:30 left – still a tall order. But Candaele's pleas fell on deaf ears, and three plays later, Centennial added another touchdown.

The Broncos end their season 12-2. Their only other loss came to another state power in Encino Crespi. And while Candaele and his staff will miss this group – Brown was a "franchise" quarterback, so to speak, running back Jovonte Slater was a spark plug, especially Friday night, and lineman Jon Sanchez was a rock – there is plenty to build on.

"Definitely," said Brown. "Playing under Coach Candaele and Coach (Eric) Peterson and great coaches like that – this team is going to go as far as it wants to go." "I feel like we can only go up from here," said senior running back John Hardin, whose emergence in the second half of the season helped spearhead this playoff run – he ran for 77 tough yards on 15 carries Friday night. "Our program is on the rise. It's unfortunate we lost, but for the juniors and sophomores, they know they can get to this point."

Next time, perhaps a victory will come with it, too.