Cougars can’t hold off Sentinels in loss

RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> Inglewood coach Milvon James had a hard time remembering the last time his team trailed in the game.

“We trailed first game of the season ... for a minute,” he recalled.

Friday night, they trailed again, and this time for more than half the game. Although it was unfamiliar territory, the Sentinels knew what to do.

Inglewood (12-0) scored two touchdowns in the second half and rallied to defeat Rancho Cucamonga 13-7 in a CIF-SS Division 2 quarterfinal at Rancho Cucamonga High School. Inglewood hosts Chaminade next week.

“Our kids fought their butts off and that was a testament to all their hard work,” James said.

After taking the lead early in the second quarter, Rancho Cucamonga held a 7-0 lead until Husan Longstreet threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Bradshaw with 6:26 to play in the third quarter to get Inglewood on the board. The extra point was missed however, and Rancho Cucamonga still led 7-6. The touchdown came two plays after Longstreet connected with 6-foot-5 tight end Jamari Johnson on a 40-yard pass.

The teams were trading turnovers in the second half, but the killer came on the first play in the fourth quarter. The Cougars had second down at the Inglewood 40 when Trey Wilson lost a fumble and Amir Garrison picked it up and returned it to the Rancho Cucamonga 7.

“The fumble gave them great field position and to be honest, that’s the first fumble (not on an exchange) we’ve had all year,” Rancho Cucamonga coach Brian Hildebrand said. “We had great field position and we had some plays we felt pretty good about.”

Although a penalty backed Inglewood up to the 22, five plays later, Longstreet connected with Bradshaw again on an 8-yard touchdown pass and the Sentinels led 13-7 with 9:59 to play.

James said he thought about going for two on the second touchdown but “didn’t want to chase points.”

PHOTO BY JOHN VALENZUELA