RANCHO CUCAMONGA — If Chaffey College football coach Darrin Chiaverini ever decides to give up the football business — an unlikely prospect since he has been involved in the game for over 30 years at the high school, college, and professional levels — he might make a good salesperson of high school graduation merchandise.
Chiaverini took the coaching position at Chaffey College in late May, and has now guided the Panthers to a 5-0 start following Saturday night’s 31-21 nonconference victory over Pasadena City College.
How did Chiaverini manage to get so many players in a short span of time?
“From when I was hired on May 23 to mid-June, I visited 50 high schools,” Chiaverini said. “Pasadena is a really great team, but they have 40 sophomores, and we only have seven.”
Pasadena had won their first four games and probably had the better of things in the first half. The visitors scored on their first drive, but the Lancers didn’t hold the lead for long.
Dereun Dortch guided Chaffey on a 4-play, 30-yard drive after a short punt by Pasadena. Dortch completed a 10-yard pass to Corey Cabriales for a first down at the PCC 19-yard line. Cabriales had a 2-yard run which was followed by a 17-yard touchdown pass from Dortch to William Davis, knotting the score at 7-7.
Pasadena regained the lead on the first play of the second quarter. Kekahi Graham completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Damien Gonzales and the Lancers had a 14-7 lead. Dortch tossed a touchdown pass to Jayson Cortes to tie the score. Chaffey drove 93 yards on 10 plays.
The drive was extended when Pasadena was flagged for a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a punt. And it followed Pasadena’s opportunity to go up by two scores, but the Lancers turned the ball over on downs inside the Chaffey 10.
“We faced some adversity in the first half,” Chiaverini said. The Panthers’ cause was also helped when they blocked a 26-yard field goal attempt with 1:50 remaining in the second quarter.
The Pasadena miscues continued in the third quarter. Dallas Brown recovered a fumble for Chaffey at the 10-yard line. Chaffey scored 17 points in the final quarter to secure the victory. Jeremiah Beck had a 6-yard touchdown reception with 12:04 remaining. Cortes had run well all night, but Dortch gave Chaffey a 28-14 advantage.
“They were beating up on Cortes, but when they tried to stop him that opened up our passing game,” said Dortch, who had planned to attend another junior college but changed his mind when a friend texted him positive things about Chiaverini.
Dortch completed 17 of 31 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns and added 53 yards and touchdown on the ground. Cortes finished with 106 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries, and Cabriales had five catches for 120 yards.
Isaac Glover led Pasadena’s ground attack with 133 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. Jordan Rodriguez had 10 receptions for 101 yards.
