Photos by Josh Thompson
College Football:
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
Chaffey College freshman quarterback Dereun Dortch was in tears near the west end zone after Saturday night’s American Metro Conference showdown with Santa Ana.
The winner would claim the conference championship, so one might wonder if Santa Ana handed Chaffey it’s first loss of 2023.
No, in fact, Chaffey got out early, never trailed, and secured a 34-24 victory to improve to 9-0.
In spite of throwing three TD passes, rushing for another, and tallying 342 all-purpose yards, Dortch felt like he let his teammates down by throwing a pair of interceptions.
In a postgame interview, he thanked his coaches, offensive line and teammates for continuing to believe in him.
Dortch was very moved by teammate Ronald Williams, who sought Dortch out, told him he was going to be fine, and Williams was right, Dereun did what he needed to do in helping his boys stay unbeaten and secure an AMC title.
In all, Dortch completed 18-of-27 for 238 yards.
He got Chaffey out to a 12-0 lead by connecting with William Davis and Jeremiah Beck on TD passes of 67 and 37 yards, respectively.
Dortch hooked up with Corey Cabriales on a 10-yard scoring strike to extend the Panthers lead to 27-12 with 1:11 to play in the third quarter.
To their credit, Santa Ana scratched their way back to within 27-18, but a 36-yard sprint by Dortch into the east end zone all but put the championship on ice.
He caried the ball 12 times for 104 yards.
Jayson Cortes looked a lot like Jayson Cortes.
He carried the ball 28 times for 107 yards and scored on a 1-yard TD run early in the second quarter to give the Panthers a 20-6 lead.
The Dortch-led offense had a 68-percent efficiency on third down, converting on 13 of 19 opportunities.
Chaffey had a 455-367 advantage in total offense.
William Davis caught four passes for 102 yards, including the early TD.
Beck totaled five receptions for 70 yards and one score.
Demajea Mitchell caught four passes for 40 yards, and Cabriales had 17 receiving yards on four catches.
The Chaffey defense deserves a lot of credit for holding the lead while their offense tried to figure things out.
Jordan Collins and Syrano Ware had five tackles apiece.
Manaia Brown, Taun’u Brown and Nico Guerra Usacategui each had four tackles for the Panthers D.
Santa Ana’s Dallen Engemann completed 16-of-43 for 264 yards and three TD’s.
Engemann hit James Farmer on a 66-yard score, Cannon King from seven yards out, and Malachi Pierce on a 4-yard scoring strike.
Santa Ana dropped a number of Engemann’s passes, went 0-for-2 on extra-point kicks, and 0-for-2 on two-point conversions.
William Saucedo led the ground game with 42 yards on 10 carries, and that included a 5-yard TD early in the fourth quarter.
Up next: The Panthers host Victor Valley next Saturday at 1 to close out the 2023 regular season.
The Rams were awarded their first win of the season thanks to a week-nine forfeit from Compton.
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Box Score:
SA: 6-6-0-12-(24)
CC: 13-7-7-7-(34)
Scoring:
CC: William Davis 67 pass from Dereun Dortch (kick failed)
CC: Jeremiah Beck 37 pass from Dereun Dortch (Anthony Hagan kick)
SA: James Farmer 66 pass from Dallen Engemann (kick failed)
CC: Jayson Cortes 1 run (Anthony Hagan kick)
SA: Cannon King 7 pass from Dallen Engemann (kick failed)
CC: Corey Cabriales 10 pass from Dereun Dortch (Anthony Hagan kick)
SA: William Saucedo 5 run (pass failed)
CC: Dereun Dortch 36 run (Anthony Hagan kick)
SA: Malachi Pierce 4 pass from Dallen Engemann (pass failed)
American Metro Scores:
Desert 51, West LA 20
Victor Valley def. Compton via forfeit
Chaffey 34, Santa Ana 24
American Metro Standings:
Chaffey (9-0, 4-0)
Santa Ana (7-2, 3-1)
Desert (6-3, 3-1)
Victor Valley (1-8, 1-3)
West LA (1-8, 1-3)
Compton (0-8, 0-4)
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