CARSON, CA -- Before there was Bob Ladouceur, there was Bruich -- as in Dick Bruich former iconic Southern California football coach who was to 21st century SoCal prep football coaching what legendary De La Salle coach Ladouceur was to NorCal.
So it was fitting Saturday night at the StubHub Center that when Kurt Bruich (son of Dick) led Redlands East Valley to a 34-33 win against Clayton Valley, that all of the Bruichs were there rooting Kurt on. That includes Dick and wife Cathy, Kurt's wife Lisa and a gang of other family members.
The victory secured for REV the CIF-State Division II playoff bowl title, a first for the school from the sleepy Inland Empire community built decades ago on the citrus trade.
And after REV quarterback Armando Herrera took a final knee to secure the narrow victory and the Wildcat players had celebrated with their legions of red-clan fans and star receiver Malik Lovette had done two backflips to commemorate the occasion, Kurt Bruich spoke about what the victory meant.
"It was awesome," Kurt said to a knot of reporters. "It was awesome to be here with my family and my wife and my two little girls and my mom and dad. Oh man, with my dad being such a part big part of California high school football. It's amazing."
If there was one person more excited than Kurt, it may have been his father, who managed a 292-84-4 record in his time at Fontana and Kaiser-Fontana high schools where he won a total of 20 league championships, four section championships and had teams chosen as tops in the state three times. His 1987 team that included Kurt Bruich at receiver, in fact, was named the mythical national champion by one media outlet.
Asked after Saturday night's game what gave him more satisfaction, Dick said: "This is much better. As a parent you always want your kids to do better than you. We never had the opportunity to do this. We got called state champions a few times, but to see my son do this is just the best. There's nothing like it."
It almost didn't happen for Redlands East Valley and its loyal following.
Clayton Valley Charter, trailing by one point with four minutes left, marched to the REV 3 where it had a first-and-goal. Poised to take the lead, the Eagles fumbled and REV sophomore lineman Jaelan Phillips pounced on it.
"I just came off the edge and I saw the tight end pull so I followed him," Phillips said. "I saw the ball on the ground and I just jumped on it."
Said Harrison who didn't quite get the handoff from quarterback Nate Keisel: "It was just a bad exchange. We had run out of that formation all game and our quarterback was trying to carry out his fake and fake the option and it was kind of on the side and slipped out."
It was a key turnover, but the game wasn't over. REV took over and quickly faced a third-and-seven on its own 33 with a few minutes left, The Wildcats needed a first down to melt the clock away and it got one as Herrera completed a 27-yard pass to Oregon-bound receiver Malik Lovette.
"We were going to go with a draw with (running back Joseph) Harman," Kurt Bruich said. "But they went to cover 3 and committed everyone to the box/ Armando changed the play to a vertical seam and Malik was open. Basically, that's our offense. If you're gonna play three high, we're going to run four at you."
Said Lovette: "It was just one of those where we saw them change up a coverage and we heard Bruich yell out to throw to Khris (Vaugh) or me because cover 3 you have to make a decision. We got the first down, I saw the clock, we took a few knees and it was over."
Until the late fumble, REV simply couldn't stop Harrison, who rushed for 324 yards and four touchdowns on a state-title game record of 50 carries. However three turnovers led to 14 points for the Wildcats (15-1). Clayton Valley (15-1) also missed two extra points, including the one that was blocked.
The mistakes cost the Eagles in a game it led by scores of 7-0, 14-7 and 21-14. Harrison had three first-half touchdowns, including a late 40-yard TD reception from Keisel after a play-action pass.
In all, Harrison accounted for 364 of Clayton Valley's 486 yards.
"I left it all on my field," an exhausted and teary eyed Harrison said after. "We came up short, but I had to let my team know I'd do it all for them.
REV's first lead came after an interception by Isaiah Armstrong that he returned to the Clayton Valley 23 early in the third quarter. Running back Taimon Faimalo scored four plays later to make it 28-21 REV.
Clayton Valley bounced back with a 42-yard TD run by Harrison, but the PAT banged off the left upright to leave the Wildcats in front 28-27.
REV increased its lead to 34-27 on a 19-yard pass from Herrera to Vaughn, but the PAT sailed wide right. That allowed Clayton Valley to move 80 yards to tally on Keisel's 17-yard run around the right side. The Eagles were poised to tie the game until Phillips blocked the extra point.
Such dramatics didn't surprise Kurt Bruich in the least.
"That's our kids' heart. They've done it all year," he said. "We've had to come back so many times. They never think they're going to lose."
Lovette was tremendous for REV, making nine catches for 154 yards and a touchdown. He also had TD runs of 11 and 3 yards.
"That's a good player," Harrison said. "He's going to Oregon. Every time he needed to, he came through."
