ESCONDIDOESCONDIDO — Starting the season 1-4 with three shutouts and a minus-157 point differential is usually a recipe for disaster.
For Orange Glen, it was simply warming up the oven for the big meal.
The Patriots feasted Friday night — starting with an offensive line that paved the way for sophomore running back Bowyn Cannon to rush for a school-record 370 yards — and completed the turnaround of a season once headed for the dumpster with a 38-32 win over visiting Tri-City Christian.
Meet the Pacific League champion Patriots, the program’s first league title in 28 years.
“To change the culture on this campus, I’m speechless,” Orange Glen head coach Tido Smith said.
The Patriots (6-4, 5-0) normally run a spread offense behind the arm of senior Amari Washington. But they mixed up the look to run essentially a Wing-T all night. It was a continuation of a challenge Smith and his coaching staff put on the offensive line when the Patriots sat at 1-4.
“The perseverance, all the hard work (of) all of our athletes on the offensive line and everywhere on the team,” senior tackle Ethan Knabel said. “We never gave up, even in the face of adversity being at 1-4. We just kept coming to practice and kept working. Every day we just came to practice and drive and block and do what we’re asked to do. We always say day-by-day get better and we live by that motto.”
Cannon carried the ball 33 times as he gradually wore down the Eagles (8-2, 4-1). He had 15 carries of at least 10 yards as the focal point on offense. He had a 14-yard touchdown in the second quarter that came immediately after Tri-City Christian got on the board with one of quarterback Joel Valverde’s three touchdown runs (Valverde also had four two-point conversion runs).
The second of his three touchdowns, a 4-yard run, capped a six-play, 68-yard drive that answered Meo Laurenceau’s 69-yard kick return that opened the second half and tied the game at 24-24.
“(The record) wasn’t on me; that was on them,” Cannon said about his offensive line. “They’re just dawgs out there. They dominated the line of scrimmage.”
Angel Rios scored Orange Glen’s first two touchdowns as the lightning to Cannon’s thunder. Both sophomores, they had no problems finding holes behind the mammoth offensive line.
“Being in the middle of that O-line knowing that whichever way we’re running, whatever field position we have, it’s not going to matter,” Knabel said. “I know the guys to my right and my left. We’re going to keep rushing down their throat. No matter who we have lined up, we can get our back down there and score.”
Tri-City Christian was 1-9 last season, which included being shut out five times. The Eagles came a touchdown short of winning a league championship but will enter the playoffs with confidence and a newfound chip on their shoulders.
“We had so many sophomores last season, and they took their beating,” said Eagles head coach Neil Breight, whose squad should get a home game Friday. “But they worked in the offseason. Guys came back and never lost faith in the process. This is going to hurt them, but we did some things that will help us in the playoffs.”
Valverde finished 19 for 33 for 198 yards. He connected with Logan Daichendt seven times and threw a perfect ball to Jack Busch for a touchdown on fourth-and-10 with 1:31 left. The ensuing onside kick failed, and the Patriots’ celebration began.
“Five wins in a row,” Smith said. “We have a lot of first-time players. They’re learning the game for the first time. We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully in the playoffs continue to learn.”
ORANGE GLEN 38, TRI-CITY CHRISTIAN 32
Tri-City Christian 0 16 8 8 — 32
Orange Glen 8 16 6 8 — 38
OG — Rios 5 run (Washington run)
OG — Rios 28 run (Cannon run)
TCC — Valverde 4 run (Valverde run)
OG — Cannon 14 run (Cannon run)
TCC — Valverde 2 run (Valverde run)
TCC — Laurenceau 69 kick return (Valverde run)
OG — Cannon 4 run (run failed)
OG — Cannon 16 run (Cannon run)
TCC — Busch 12 from Valverde (Valverde run)
