MidValleySports.Com

By Johnathan Saller

(La Verne) – West Covina toppled Bonita 38-14, powered by the rushing attack of Jimmy Frazier and Chris Solomon at Glenn Davis Field Friday night.

The Bearcats tried to catch the Bulldogs off-guard opening up the game with an onside kick. Unfortunately for Bonita, West Covina had prepared for that and Joseph Rubio scooped up the rock and marched 48-yards for an easy score.

“We knew our backs were against the wall, you’re gonna have to take chances to beat a good team, we took a chance and didn’t play it particularly well,” Bonita head coach Eric Podley said. “It cost us.”

The Bearcats stiffened up on defense in the first quarter strangling the strong West Covina running attack by forcing three straight three and outs. Bonita was able to get favorable field position when quarterback Tanner Diebold was picked off by Gus Vilchis at the Bulldogs five-yard line. Vilchis returned the ball back out to the West Covina 42-yardline and the Bulldogs were in business.

Frazier had his number called; breaking left he hit second level and pulled away for a 45-yard scamper giving West Covina a 14-0 advantage early in the secondary.

On the ensuing Bearcats possession, a fumble by receiver Mark Salce led to a West Covina field goal and the score at the half was 17-0 Bulldogs.

Bonita was able to claw its way back into the contest in the second half beginning with a 91-yard return by Austin Venegas.  Lonzel Barnett blocked the extra-point and it was 17-6 Bulldogs.

On the next West Covina possession, a rare fumble from Bulldogs rusher Aaron Salgado gave the Bearcats great field position at the West Covina 25-yard line.

Bonita Running back Cameron Griffin punched it in from two-yards out and Reggie Turner followed it up with a two-point conversion tightening the score at 17-14 half-way through the third.

That was the last Bonita would score as it turned into the Solomon show as he accounted for 72-yards of offense on three straight plays putting West Covina up 24-14 and never looking back.

“They stopped us most of the first half, our backs are pretty good. They don’t need a whole lot,” West Covina head Coach Mike Maggiore said. “But we know if we’re gonna win big games like this we’re gonna have to run the ball. Frazier and Solomon, those guys stepped up.”

Solomon rushed for 96-yards on 13 carries with scores of two and three yards. His counterpart, Frazier, rushed eight times for 111-yards and scored on runs of 23 and 45-yards.

“We came out flat [in the second half]…as soon as they scored 14 [points] our whole team was fired up so we just came out on [offense] and did our thing,” Solomon said.

Solomon and company (6-1) will see if they can stay fired up in two weeks when they travel to Los Altos. The Bearcats (2-4) will play host to Los Altos next week for homecoming.