Saddleback Valley Christian Suffers First Defeat, 35-21, to Tri-City Christian

Saddleback Valley Christian's football team entered Friday night’s nonleague game against Tri City Christian of Vista (7-2) with an 8-0 record and a No. 9 ranking in the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division coaches' poll.

The Warriors came out swinging, scoring when senior JD Carroll hauled in a Brandon Towles’ pass for a 62-yard touchdown on just the third play of the game. Senior Curran John's two-point conversion run with 11:07 to play in the first quarter gave SVCS an 8-0 lead, but Tri-City Christian scored the next 21 points and rolled to a 35-21 victory at JSerra High.

The Warriors’ defensive line, which forced the Eagles to punt away their first possession, was led by junior Morgan Robinson, who had two sacks to end scoring threats, both coming on third-down plays. 

“He had a great week of practice and it really showed tonight," SVCS' first-year coach Justin Reber said. "Morgan was great on the pass for us."

Senior defensive back Ryan Bialobreski intercepted Tri-City Christian quarterback Christian Rodarmel's pass at the Warriors' 10-yard line and returned it 73 yards  to put an end to the Eagles' second possession.

But the offense failed to convert the turnover into points. After two penalties, the Warriors faced a fourth and goal from the 18 and were stopped at the Eagles' two. That series seemed to take most of the wind out of SVCS' sails, as Tri-City Christian took over the ball and the momentum.

The Eagles scored with 45 seconds left in the second quarter on Rodarmel's 26-yard pass play to Nathan Medrano, but their attempt at a two-point conversion failed and the Warriors clung to an 8-6 halftime lead.

Tri-City Christian came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half and soon scored on Rodarmel's 47-yard pass play to Medrano, who finished with 63 yards on the ground as well as 145 receiving. He ran in the two-point conversion to give the Eagles their first lead at 14-8 with 8:39 left in the third quarter.

The Warriors were forced to take to the air tonight by an Eagles defense that stacked the box in an effort to stop John, one of the top rushers in Orange County. The senior entered the game averaging 242 rushing yards per game, but the Eagles held him to only 18 in the first half. 

“Our scout team ran a good scout team all week long, and we came to tackle him tonight," Tri-City Christian coach Rick Brown said of John. "We know he is a great one ... boy he is good. He’s a great kid, a humble kid with strong character.  It was good to meet him tonight."

John finished with 131 yards rushing and one touchdown on the night.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, interceptions stalled several second-half drives, and Tri-City Christian capitalized on the turnovers.  The Eagles extended their lead to 21-8 with 14 seconds left in the third quarter on Jacob Valenzuela's 32-yard run.

“We’ve been used to showing up and being better [than our opponent]," Reber said. "This was a wake-up call because Tri City is a playoff team. It took them getting punched in the mouth to respond.  It’s good losing this one if it helps us prepare better for the first round of playoffs.”

John's seven-yard touchdown run at 10:15 of the fourth quarter pulled the Warriors to within 21-14 after their point-after kick was blocked.

However, the Eagles rallied for a quick score as Rodarmel threw his third touchdown pass of the game to Medrano -- this one for 55 yards -- to give Tri-City Christian a 28-14 lead at 8:56 of the fourth quarter.

Towles scored on a two-yard run with 5:41 left to play to pulled the Warriors to within 28-21. But Matt Erickson's 10-yard touchdown and the PAT with 52 seconds left to play gave Tri-City Christian its final margin of victory.

SVCS closes its season against Fairmont Prep in a San Joaquin League game on Friday at Valley Christian High in Cerritos.

“We’ve got to try to get better and tougher at practice this coming week,” Reber said.