Colony Gets Ring

By George Hernandez

(Ontario) – Colony fell behind early but they came back and held on to a 49-41 victory over St. Margaret’s Friday at Colony high school in the CIF Division 9 Finals.

St. Margaret’s got the ball first and in just two minutes they were on the board when running back Benton Barlow dived in from one yard out. That would be its last run play of the game.

Colony answered back when Arizona bound AJ Jones found tight end Isiah Ward in the back of the end zone to tie it up.

St. Margaret’s didn’t slow down as it got right back to work and scored in under a minute, this time when Jake Ruff hit Derek Smith on a 23-yard touchdown pass to take the lead right back.

The Titans stood with them scoring in just over a minute when Jones hit a streaking Oscar Morales for a 47-yard catch and run to paydirt.

Ruff put the Tartans on the board again before the end of the first quarter when he hit Barlow on a screen pass for a two yard score making it 21-14 at the end of one quarter.

Colony would be the first team to punt on their next possession.

St. Margaret’s went right back to the air to start the second quarter and Ruff hit his favorite target William Stahl making it a two score game.

Jones kept it on the ground for Colony doing it himself and racing in from 42-yards out.

The Titans defense then came to life forcing a Tartans punt.

Colony tied it up when Jones hit Donovan English for a 60-yard score.

After another St. Margaret’s punt the Titans took the lead just before half with another Jones to English connection putting them up 35-28 at half.

Colony added tried to add to its lead to start the second half but turned the ball over on downs.

The Tartans gave the ball right back when Bryce Strong picked off a Ruff pass on the one yard line.

Two plays later Strong broke off an 89-yard touchdown run. That was it after a St. Margaret’s turn over on downs, Strong shifted through the defense for a 42-yard touchdown run putting it at 49-28 midway through the third quarter.

Ruff would find Stahl for the second time on their next possession for his fourth touchdown pass of the game.

Colony didn’t score the next drive but the Titans ate up seven minutes off the clock.

The Tartans kept fighting as Ruff threw a score to Smith for the second time but a missed extra point made it 49-41.

A Titans punt gave St. Margaret’s the ball back with over two minutes left but Colony was able to stop them on fourth and long to seal the game.

Jones went 7 of 12 for 197-yards passing and four scores to go along with 99-yards rushing and a score.

Jamari Johnson was the workhorse running back for Colony with 21-carries for 83-yards. Strong ended with 166-yards on 12-carries and two scores.

Ruff completed 37 of 56 for 315-yards, five touchdowns and a interception.

Stahl had 131-yards receiving and two scores while Smith also had two scoring receptions on four catches and 62-yards.

The Tartans finished at 9-5.

Colony (8-6) won its first CIF title since 2014 and second year head coach Brian Zavala won his first CIF title.

The Titans will now wait and see who they face in the Southern California regionals next week.

2 Comments to "Colony Gets Ring"

  1. SoCal's Gravatar SoCal
    November 28, 2021 - 10:30 am | Permalink

    What cif did is keep marginal coaches in their jobs longer than the school wants them there. Colony can not win league or even compete in their pre-season and takes them out of D3 and makes them compete in D9. This is the same with Poly, Jordan, Arlington, and a number of other schools that underachieved and had 500 records or worst going into the playoffs. Pomona, Charter Oak, and a number of other schools did not even win a league game and was rewarded with a playoff bid and more so a home game in a much lower division. Pomona was put in the lowest division only to play the joke of defending state champ El Monte.
    Yes, cif has some adjustments to make. This is how you know if cif is lazy or what I think is not very intelligent and did not think this through. I know many people at the cif office and they are not lazy, they just lack foresight. The are simpletons and they are looking for an easy solution and there are none. They need to put a team of people together and make a committee to study these plans and come up with a solution that best fits every school instead of experimenting with these playoffs year and a year out. “Put some thought into it CIF.”

  2. Anonymous's Gravatar Anonymous
    November 27, 2021 - 7:59 am | Permalink

    A lot of Montebello fans would like Brian Zavala back

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