Missed Chances End REV's Season

The chances were certainly there.

Two times with the ball inside the Rancho Cucamonga 10-yard-line. Each looking like the perfect opportunity for Redlands East Valley to wrench control of a game like they had many other times this season.

But the touchdowns never came. In fact, they went backwards each time.

And thus, Redlands East Valley's first loss of the season was its last.

The Wildcats did just about everything to the same script they had used all season. A punishing defense that kept a high-scoring opponent from getting their offense on track. Keep the game close, hope for a break and convert.

The breaks came. The conversions did not for the Wildcats on Friday night.

They lost a chance in the second quarter when an apparent touchdown -- coach Kurt Bruich called it a "questionable" call -- was ruled a fumble that Rancho Cucamonga recovered in the end zone.

Then there was the first-and-goal from the 1-yard-line with time running out in the first half. The Cougars' defense shut the door, forcing REV into kicking a field goal to go into the half down 9-3.

From there, it turned into a battle of the lines. Neither side able to move the ball well, playing a game of field position for most of the second half, each looking for the break that could change the course of the game.

And REV got it.

A botched punt from inside the Rancho Cucamonga end zone came to rest on the Cougars' 19-yard-line with about six minutes remaining.

After converting a fourth-down play to give themselves a first down, the Wildcats went backward. Rancho Cucamonga's defensive line won the battle again when it counted.

For Bruich, it was exactly as he predicted earlier in the afternoon.

"At about 2:30 (this afternoon), I told our offensive line that basically the game was going to be won or lost depending on if they could move the other team. And we couldn't move them," Bruich said after the game. "And it's not like our kids played bad, they just couldn't move them. And when you don't have a run game, when your run game is non-existent, it makes it pretty tough to score."

So, it's another Thanksgiving-week finish for REV, unable to get over the hump in the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.

But while there was disappointment with Friday's final score, there was no regrets from Bruich for the season overall.

"I've had a lot of fun this year coaching these kids," Bruich said. "It's a great bunch of kids."

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