Colton football team rallies to victory over Rim of the World
COLTON — Fueled by a computer prediction that picked its opponent to win, the Colton football team soared on Friday night.
Colton rallied to defeat Rim of the World 28-21, relegating a CalPreps.com pick of a 33-point Rim victory to the trash bin.
"They picked us to lose 40-7, and we let the boys know about it," Colton coach Ray Rodriguez said. "For the season, they have us going 1-9, and that made the chip on our shoulder even bigger."
Asked if the faulty predictions motivated his team, star Colton quarterback Koa Regalado said, "Always, always. They picked us to go 1-9 this season and now we're 3-1."
Tied 21-21 late in the third quarter, Colton changed things up offensively. It got away from its pass-oriented attack led by Regalado and kept the ball on the ground.
The Yellowjackets drove 80 yards on 12 plays to score on Regalado's 1-yard run with 8:43 left. Damian Sanchez carried four times on the drive for 43 yards.
"I was impressed with how they ran the ball in the fourth quarter," Rim coach Joe Jurado said. "We expected their QB to make plays, but their offensive line and running back (Sanchez) did a great job."
Colton then surprised Rim for the second time with an onside kick. Jordan Chairez recovered for the Yellowjackets. That allowed Colton to melt about 5 more minutes off the clock before the Yellowjackets missed a field goal attempt.
Rim had 4:09 left to work with, but penalties on the drive hurt and a fourth-and-23 pass from its own 40 was intercepted by Colton to seal the Yellowjacket victory.
"It feels good," said Sanchez who rushed for 70 yards. "CalPreps had us losing 40-7 and we came out on top."
Rim (3-1) scored on its first possession of the game. The Scots used all running plays to drive 65 yards before tallying on an 8-yard run by Tatum Ortiz.
But Colton came right back to tie on the first play of the second quarter, a perfectly thrown 29-yard touchdown pass from Regalado to Steven Aguayo.
Rim then used a long kickoff return to get the ball into scoring position, setting up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jake Farley to Ryder Granger.
But Regalado completed six passes on its next drive before scoring on a 17-yard Kyle Mejia touchdown catch to even the score 14-14 with 4:30 left in the first half.
"I can trust Koa at quarterback to get the ball to anyone," Mejia said.
Rim got the ball last before intermission and made the possession count. Farley found Cody Karn open deep, and Karn's juggling catch with 3 seconds left sent the Scots roaring into the locker room ahead, 21-14.
Colton would not be denied. The Yellowjackets tied the game 21-21 on their first possession of the second half, tallying on Regalado's 18-yard TD pass to Mejia.
After Colton went ahead early in the fourth quarter on Regalado's short run, it was the successful onside kick that kept the ball away from Rim.
"We thought an extra possession would really help us," Rodriguez said. "They were leaving us a lot of room on the sideline and our special teams coach Jared Carnell said, 'How about it?'"
Regalado threw for 183 yards and three touchdowns for Colton. Mejia caught seven passes for 73 yards and two scores.
Rim's Ortiz rushed for 57 yards on 12 carries before leaving late in the first half with a leg injury. Christian Granger filled in nicely as Rim's go-to back, rushing for 86 yards on 15 carries.
