SAN BERNARDINO, CA – There were nearly two months difference between San Gorgonio High School’s games against a pair of top-flight, Fontana-based football programs.
When the Spartans lost to Kaiser-Fontana, 35-7, on Sept. 4, QB transfer Kaleb Hayes – just over from Valley View-Moreno Valley – was just getting used to playing in head coach Ron Gueringer’s system.
By the time San G exploded for three touchdowns in the final quarter against Jurupa Hills-Fontana on Oct. 30, Hayes had seemingly grasped the concept of Gueringer’s offense. The score had been tied 20-20 before Jordan Brumfield’s 39-yard TD run, Hayes’ 56-yard scoring scamper, capped by his 11-yard TD pass to Chris Gomez.
The 41-20 final was quite a turnaround from that 28-point loss two months earlier – by championship-level teams located within five miles along a stretch of Jurupa Ave. in Fontana.
Gueringer spotted an immediate difference. “This team rises and falls on how well Kaleb does for us.”
In that non-league loss to Kaiser – a Southern Section Central Division champion in 2012 – Hayes was ineffective against a Cats’ defense that was led mostly by defensive end Armani Dodson, who recovered a fumble, sacked Hayes three times and knocked down a key pass on a crucial fourth down play.
It didn’t hurt that Kaiser senior RB Joshua Johnson racked up 231 yards and scored 5 TDs against a San G defense that wasn’t yet ready to play.
Gueringer, with his school principal Dion Clark within earshot, said that night, “We will improve. I can guarantee that. I can absolutely guarantee that. This team will get better.”
Adding to the mix: San G’s Oct. 30 showdown with Jurupa Hills – both teams are called the Spartans – was for this year’s San Andreas League championship in a battle of 4-0 squads.
Prior to joining the league, Jurupa Hills had been 2012 Southern Section-East Division champion behind head coach Ed McMillon.
San G, it seems, has been taking on elite teams from Fontana – a far cry from the days when Fontana High School ruled the area’s prep football ranks into the early 1990s. Jurupa Hills and Kaiser, which sprung up on the south side of Interstate 10, opposite of a trio of north Interstate-10-based schools FoHi, A.B. Miller and Summit – have been championship-level programs.
Gueringer doesn’t stack his schedule with easy marks.
Kaiser, followed by ranked teams Glendora (21-7 loss), Yucaipa (losing, 47-7) and a 34-19 win over Hesperia Oak Hills, led into a San Andreas League schedule that was a complete wipeout – 48-0 over Rialto, 42-6 over Rim of the World- Lake Arrowhead (another 2012 CIF champion) and 73-6 over Arroyo Valley-San Bernardino before its showdown with Jurupa Hills.
A sad note: Gueringer’s 80-year-old mother died the previous Sunday and he tended to family duties that Monday and Tuesday.
“I missed practice those days,” he said. “It was a tough week.”
His spirits might’ve been lifted after three TDs that cracked a 20-20 tie in the fourth quarter. It came over a 6:53 span.
“It wasn’t easy,” said Gueringer, a reference to his mother’s death.
His absence at practices isn’t easy. Gueringer’s role as head coach is crucial to the success of San G.
In that Oct. 30 showdown at San G, the visiting Spartans’ Demetrius Hayward had taken an option pitch from QB Julian Curiel for a game-tying touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
It took two snaps for San G to crack the tie, the second coming on Jordan Brumfield’s 39-yard run. And after Brady Smith came up with San G’s fifth of six quarterback sacks of Curiel, Hayes (135 yards rushing, 75 passing) weaved his way through Jurupa Hills’ defense.
Shemiah Unotoa-Whitson’s final sack of Curiel forced another punt, leading to a three-play drive, capped by Hayes’ 16-yard touchdown pass to Chris Gomez for the game-sealing score.
“I thought we dominated the game in the first half,” said Gueringer, his team clinging to a 14-10 advantage despite an interception return for a touchdown by Jose Contreras III.
In fact, Contreras had a rare 1:01 span in which he tied the score on his 20-yard interception return of Hayes, recovered an errant San G option pitch and booted a 46-yard field goal to give Jurupa Hills a 10-7 lead.
San Gorgonio pulled back ahead when Hayes found Henry on a 21-yard TD strike with 1:10 left in the half.
Yardage was hard to come by for both sides, San Gorgonio holding an 89-26 edge by halftime.
When San Gorgonio (6-3, 4-0) surged into the fourth quarter, it held a 20-13 edge after Dezhon Williams’ 5-yard touchdown run, 4:05 after Contreras’ second field goal, a 31-yarder that pulled Jurupa Hills (4-5, 3-1) to within 14-13.
“We finally started doing things right,” said Gueringer.
San Gorgonio’s defense held Curiel to 90 yards passing on 12 completions, but the six sacks played to 27 lost yards. Dogged by 156 yards in penalties, San G went without a flag during the 6:53 span while scoring three touchdowns in that final quarter.
Hayes, meanwhile, has plenty to live up to as a Spartan QB.
He’s rushed for 778 yards (12 TD) and thrown for 749 yards (10 TDs) through nine games so far during his Spartan career.
Last year’s QB, Nathan Meadors – now intercepting key passes in UCLA’s secondary – threw for 1,481 yards (22 TDs) and rushed for a staggering total of 1,941 yards (26 TDs), averaging 13.5 yards a touch.
It’s hard to believe that Meadors was a backup to San G’s previous QB, Tahir Rashed-Mills, whose 2013 numbers reflected 1,765 yards passing (20 TDs) and 1,912 yards rushing (25 TDs) – the same as Meadors’ 13.5-a-carry clip.
All of this comes out of Gueringer’s QB read-option attack – which requires an athletic “shooter” taking snaps.
Stop San G’s QB and you’ve stopped the Spartans.
It could have been penalty flags that stopped San G. Several key, and questionable, flags were dropped, particularly by the far side judge, who seemed “flag happy.”
Gueringer didn’t want to speak for the record on that, but his eyebrows shot up, especially when a shoulder pad hit was judged to be helmet-to-helmet contact – costing San G 15 yards, assisting Jurupa Hills continue a TD drive.
Balancing that off was a flag against Jurupa Hills when Curiel under-handed a floater to David Jackson that would have put that team ahead by a TD in that do-or-die third quarter. He was flagged for being over the line of scrimmage.
“Naah,” said Gueringer, “that was an illegal lineman downfield.”
No. It was a QB over the line – which Curiel was most definitely not over. Bad call!
Both teams endured the officials, which left both teams trying to make game-clinching plays under a questionable eye.
San G’s pass rush ultimately made the difference.
Smith, Unutoa-Whitson, Jawain Robinson and Pika Fakava were all involved on the six QB sacks of Curiel, who was chased a lot more than that.
“We fought hard,” said Gueringer.
