The Rancho Cucamonga High School Cougars were excited to start their football season, putting last year’s season in the past. Revamping the whole program, a new head coach, Mr. Alex Pierce, stepped onto the field ready to lead the Cougars to victory.
Even though the season is still underway, the first half of the year proved to be a struggle for the Cougars. As of Oct. 9, the Cougars have a 2-4 record overall.
The Cougars lost the first game of the season on Friday, Aug. 22. The team had a strong fight against Murrieta Valley with a final score of 26-28, but fell short of just two points. In an interview with the quarterback, senior Jacob Chambers, he commented on the team’s loss.
“In the beginning with Murrieta, we started off kind of slow. I think we could have won if we didn’t,” said Chambers. “We started to come back, but we came up short, coming out faster could have secured the game.”
Suffering another close loss in the following game on Friday, Aug. 29, Orange Lutheran defeated the Cougars 24-27. This second game of the season gave RCHS a record of 0-2.
This game had viewers on the edge of their seats because the Cougars led at halftime.
“We got too comfortable with Orange Lutheran,” Chambers said. “You know, having a 15-point lead against a nationally ranked team like that had us thinking we had the game in the bag.”
Attempting to bounce back even stronger, the varsity boys defeated Oak Hills 14-3 on Friday, Sept. 9, for the first home game of the season. With the first win, the team and supporters gained a glimmer of hope for this season.
Both Pierce and Chambers said the defense was to credit for not giving Oak Hills room to score. It was a “lights out game,” as Chambers put it.
Defense captain, junior Johnny Fortune III, gave his input on the team’s work ethic.
“We pushed back hard and didn’t give the offense a chance to run the ball,” Fortune said. “Not getting that chance forced them to throw the ball, giving the secondaries more opportunities to intercept the ball.”
For that game against Oak Hills and the next 2 games, the Cougars had the homefield advantage. That factor didn’t contribute to anything in the games against Chaparral or Centennial.
These two losses led the team into their bye week. According to Pierce, the bye week gave the team a chance to “correct all the mistakes causing penalties and improve fundamentals.”
The Cougars played the first league game on Friday, Oct. 3, against Damien High School.
A heated rivalry between the Damien team and the RCHS cougars warmed the field on the chilly night of Friday, Oct. 3. This fire fueled the relentless effort of the boys on both sides of the field.
They both had a great game, but the Cougars took home the win with a score of 24-22.
“There was a lot of trash talk on and off the field, so we knew we had to come with more energy than them and settle it right then and there,” Fortune III said. “I’m taking complete advantage of those bragging rights and plan to keep that same energy with the rest of the games. This is where it gets serious.”
The Cougars play their next game at Upland High School on Friday, Oct. 10.
