CIF Football Recap

Jordan Richard, Head Sports Reporter

Rancho Cucamonga High School’s Varsity Football team heads into CIF Division 2 Playoffs against the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks after a huge win against Justin Flowe and the Upland Highlanders, winning their second consecutive baseline league championship 47-28 and completing league with a record of 4-1 and an overall record of 8-3.

Rancho Cucamonga High School put a beating on the Nighthawks with a crushing score of 49-14, moving along to the second round of the CIF division 2 playoffs. 

Varsity boys started off slow, and with the implementation of a couple coaching adjustments on offense and defense, the Rancho Cucamonga team began to run off into the sunset.  

Quarterback CJ Stroud threw 28 attempts and completed 17, throwing for 305 yards with 3 touchdowns. Two of his touchdown passes were to wide receiver Jayden Dixon-Veal, and one touchdown pass was to Colin Stites. Defense was on fire with a perfect performance yet again. 

Rancho Cucamonga’s defensive effort put a fire under the team, making them unstoppable, with interceptions from Defensive Backs Quiten Moten, Jordan Webb, Marquell King, and Esaia Bogar shutting down the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks. Running Back Elijah Monroe had a phenomenal game with 16 carries, 177 yards and 3 touchdowns.

I talked to Elijah Monroe about his performance on the field and he shared,  “It is one of my best games yet and I gave it all I had on the field to secure the win ”  

I asked Camille Singleton, one of the lead Rancho Rooters, about the atmosphere of a CIF Game and how they bring that intensity to the football games. 

She explained, “It was super epic, we try to bring as much as we could to the football game, it is hard to get everyone to a CIF Playoff Game because you have to pay, but we [Rancho Rooters] still show up.” Singleton added, “We stayed hyped as long as we could, but it is also late at night and people have curfews and have to go, but it was a wonderful game.”

Rancho Cucamonga rode into the semi-finals against Long Beach Polytechnic High School in order to advance to the next round of the Division 2 Playoffs, and the Cougars defeated their opponents 21-7 in a tight game, allowing them to advance to Round 3 of the CIF Division 3 Playoffs.