FONTANA — The Citrus Hill football program has known wild postseason success before, winning multiple CIF Southern Section titles and a CIF State championship in 2015.
In that state championship game against St. Francis of Mountain View, the Hawks repelled a late drive to win it.
Well, the secret’s out now, there is something a-brewin’ at Citrus Hill this year and it’s not root beer. The giddy Hawks showed that with a dominating 26-6 victory Thursday night against host Miller.
Receiver Kalen Stephens caught 10 passes for 135 yards and one touchdown, quarterback John Guitron threw for 201 yards, and the Hawk defense smothered Miller.
“We’re not surprised by this – we worked hard all week,” said Stephens, whose 29-yard TD catch from Guitron left the receiver sprawled on his back.
“We watched film and went out and made plays and our coaches coached us in the best way possible,” Stephens said.
The Hawks made it 14-0 on their next possession on Demerius Norman’s 13-yard run with 2:02 left in the first quarter.
Miller marched to the Hawk 1 midway through the second quarter, but an amped Hawk stiffened.
Citrus Hill, after stopping a fourth-and-inches try, blew the game open with Cody Bowie’s blink-and-you-miss him 75-yard TD run.
Kannon Stewart’s 13-yard TD run before the end the half nudge the lead to 26-0.
Citrus Hill (2-0) created four turnovers, including interceptions by Carlos Moreno and Ricky Green.
Hawk outside linebacker Isaiah Berumen also made a big impact with five tackles. He is a four-year starter.
“The coach (Ron Gueringer) talks about having heart and I have never been the biggest or the strongest, but I know that if I have the bigger heart, I’ll get the job done,” Berumen said.
Offensively, linemen Zacharius Hernandez, Samuel Salcido, and Emmanuel Barraza blazed holes through the Rebel defense.
Miller (1-1) finally scored in the second half on a 20-yard pass from Jacob Sauceda to Stanley Leslie. Leslie also had an interception for the Rebels but bobbled away a chance to grab a long pass from Angel Magana.
“It was pretty underwhelming,” Leslie said of his team’s effort. “I know that we can play better and finish and start better,” Leslie said. “We just weren’t as prepared as the other team.
Sauceda threw for more than 100 yards for the Rebels. Guitron had twice that for Citrus Hill.
