RANCHO CUCAMONGA — There are correlations between expectations and reality, but even Darrin Chiaverini is surprised by the success of the Chaffey College football team in his first season as head coach.
Hired late in the summer, Chiaverini had only 6 weeks to put together a staff and team before the start of a season.
“It’s the quickest build I’ve ever been a part of so yeah, I’m surprised, especially because they didn’t have any players when I got here,” said Chiaverini, who led the Panthers to an 11-0 record and a bowl game win for the first time since 2019.
The 46-year-old from Corona High School had had coaching experience at the junior college level as an assistant at Riverside City College (2010-’13) and at the NCAA Division I level at Colorado and UCLA, so he executed on his own program-building plan.
“The biggest hire for me was Junior Tanuvasa, who is a guy I’ve known for a long time and worked with at University of Colorado,” Chiaverini said. “He was the major piece for me to get and was the first call when I got the job.”
With only five returning sophomores and more than 50 incoming freshmen players, Chiaverini’s first few wins were fueled by big runs from freshman running back Jayson Cortes.
“He carried us early in the season,” Chiaverini said. “Just putting the ball in his hands, especially when we hadn’t settled on a quarterback yet, was a focal point early in the season.”
Cortes, a Centennial High graduate, averaged more than 20 carries a game and finished with 1,193 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Chiaverini made the decision to stick with freshman quarterback Dereun Dortch in Week 4, and Dortch has responded with nearly 300 yards of offense per game and a growing list of postseason awards.
“What I like about Dereun is that he listens in the meetings, he listens in the game, he makes the adjustments that he has to make,” Chiaverini said. “He has a really bright future.”
Dortch, a CIF section champion at San Jacinto last year, completed nearly 70 percent of his pass attempts for 2,350 yards and 25 touchdowns while gaining 520 rushing yards with nine touchdowns.
The Panthers defense, led by Tanuvasa, allowed less than 16 points per game.
“(Tanuvasa) did a really good job with the defense,” Chiaverini said. “He’s a good coach, a good technician.”
Chaffey had 11 first team all-conference selections, the most in the Panthers’ 35-year history.
Regular season wins over Pasadena City and Santa Ana sealed an unbeaten regular season and an American-Metro League title, and a narrow 16-12 win over Pasadena City in the American Division Championship Bowl sealed a perfect season.
“For us to put it together with almost all freshmen and to beat a team like Pasadena twice, a team that has 45-to-47 sophomores, I mean, that’s an impressive coaching job for anybody,” Chiaverini said.
Already on the road in search of new talent, Chiaverini is excited by what’s next.
“You got to keep recruiting and that’s what I’m doing right now,” he said. “At the end of the day, you can be a really good coach but if you have average players then you’re an average coach.
“I’m a firm believer in building your roster from the bottom up, retaining players and adding talent to build competition and culture. We’re building Chaffey into one of the best junior colleges, not only in California but in the country,” he said.
CENTENNIAL ALUM FLOYD SHINES
Nicholas Floyd played a significant role for Mt. San Antonio College football team this season, and nearly led the Mounties past RCC on Saturday night before losing 51-48 in the Southern California Football Association regional semifinals.
Floyd finished with a career-high 213 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries for the Mounties, who finished their season 10-1 overall after an unbeaten regular season as National-Central League champions.
“Really, for us, I feel like it is (the end). It really hurts. We wanted this,” he said. “That was the whole game plan from the start of the season – us making state – so it definitely is a missed opportunity. For a lot of the guys, the mission was to get to state. Coming short of it is a huge letdown.”
Floyd busted through Riverside’s stout defense for touchdown runs of 46, 50 and 36 yards to help Mt. SAC maintain a lead through three quarters.
After transferring from Dixie State (now known as Utah Tech) without using a year of eligibility, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound tailback played in only three games for Mt. SAC as a freshman in 2022 but excelled in his second season in the Mounties offense, producing eight 100-yard rushing performances and finishing with a team-leading 1,265 rushing yards this season.
ODDS & ENDS
California Baptist University wrestlers Elijah Griffin (125 pounds), Hunter Leake (133), Emilio Trujillo-Dean (141), Dayne Morton (149) and Nathan Haas (184) each won individual titles at the Roadrunner Open at CSU Bakersfield on Sunday, Nov. 19. … Cal State San Bernardino’s men’s and women’s basketball team’s open CCAA conference play at Chico State on Thursday, Nov. 30 and at Cal Poly Humboldt on Saturday, Nov. 2. … The Chaffey women’s soccer team is the top seed for this weekend’s CCCAA Championship at Mt. SAC. The Panthers (21-1-3 overall) play Folsom Lake in the semifinals on Friday, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m. The final is scheduled for Sunday at 10 a.m.
Week ahead schedules
Upcoming basketball schedules for Inland area Division 1 colleges
Wednesday, Nov. 29
Men’s basketball: California Baptist at Southern Utah, 5:30 p.m.,
Thursday, November 30
Men’s basketball: UC Riverside at UCLA, 8 p.m.
Friday, December 1
Women’s basketball: UC Riverside at Merrimack, 8 a.m.
Sunday, December 3
Men’s basketball UC Riverside vs. North Dakota, 4 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 4
Women’s basketball: UC Riverside at Dartmouth, 11 a.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 6
Men’s basketball: California Baptist vs. Utah Tech, 6 p.m., UC Riverside at Washington State, 7 p.m.
Women’s basketball: California Baptist at Utah Tech, 6 p.m.
