MidValleySports.Com

King Solomon! Chris Solomon (#20) and the rest of the Bulldogs were crowned champs Friday night.

(Walnut) – For the first time since 2004, West Covina can claim that it is CIF Champion with a heart-stopping 37-33 over Bonita at Ken Gunn Stadium on the campus of Walnut High.

The final three minutes is what high school football is all about with both teams trading scores and fans taking an emotional roller-coaster ride in the process.

After Brandt Davis kicked a 39-yard field goal to put the Bearcats ahead by three with 1:46 remaining, George Johnson engineered the game-winning drive and scored on a one year sneak with 25 seconds remaining in the game to clinch the Championship for the Bulldogs.

For a split second on the second play of the drive, it looked as though the game might have been sealed on Zach Brungard’s interception only to have the ball come off his hands for an incompletion.

With West Covina breathing new life with 1:23 remaining, Johnson ran for a hard fought nine yards. B.J. Lee followed with a two-yard burst that he almost broke for a touchdown.

Three plays later with the Bulldogs out of field goal range, Chris Solomon (21 carries for 155 yards and three touchdowns) found a hole for 22-yards on a second and 10. Aaron Salgado made up for a miscue early in the third quarter with a 15-yard dash on the next play to set up Johnson’s game-winner.

Bonita's Matt Gelalich hauls in a touchdown pass from Garrett Pendleton. WestCo's Anthony Molina defends.

Like two prize fighters each team took its shots right off the bat to start the second half with the score tied at 14.

The Bearcats connected first. Matt Gelalich recovered a Salgado fumble at the Bulldog 40.

On the first play from scrimmage, Garrett Pendleton (25 of 38 for 338 yards and a touchdown) connected on a flea-flicker to Garrett Horine on the left-sideline for a 39-yard completion. One play later, K.C. Huth scored from one yard out to give Bonita a six point lead.

Bearcat kicker Davis then played his own version of pinball by knocking the ball off a West Covina player and Bonita recovered. A nine-play drive resulted in a 40-yard field goal by Davis to give the Bearcats its largest lead of the game at nine.

Davis did a replay on the next kick-off with Eric Mikity recovering the ball for Bonita at its own 39. This time however, Bonita couldn’t score and missed a field goal.

Only coming away with nine points inside the “red zone” came back to haunt the Bearcats.

With all the chaos surrounding the Bulldogs special teams miscues, not one player or coach seemed to feel like the game was out of hand, even with the vaunted West Covina offense only attempting seven offensive plays.

After a holding penalty by Bonita was called back on a punt, Deion Steppes made the defensive play of the night by blocking Huth’s punt attempt out of the end zone for a safety to change the momentum of the game.

West Covina received the kick after the safety and marched right back down the field on seven plays. Johnson proved that he could pass with the best of them, hitting Marcus Haigler on a 37-yard touchdown pass. Johnson found the narrowest of holes and threaded the needle with Gelalich blanketing Haigler to tie the score.

Bonita answered with an impressive drive of its own spanning 66-yards on seven plays. Pendleton was near perfect on the drive completing three of four passes for 33 yards. Giomani Johnson gave the Bearcats a 30-23 lead with 8:35 left in the game.

Not to be out down by his rushing counterpart, Solomon scampered in from 39-yards out with 3:44 left to set up the dramatic two scores from each team.