Recap
Glendora, CA — GLENDORA — San Dimas seemed to have the key ingredient to snapping a three-game losing streak to rival Bonita: recover four Bonita fumbles and return one for a touchdown.
But Bonita overcame the miscues, intercepting three San Dimas passes in the second half and rallied for a 21-13 victory in the annual Smudgepot Game at Citrus College.
Bonita (2-2) now leads the all-time series 25-24-1.
“Generally, you have four (turnovers), you don’t win,” Bonita coach Steve Bogan said. “They just played their asses off, is the most important thing. We always want to play hard, play smart and play together. We played hard, we played together, we just have to play a little smarter.”
San Dimas led 13-7 at halftime and was looking to extend its lead in the third quarter when Bearcats sophomore Cole Parra intercepted a Jacob Gonzalez pass and returned it 10 yards to the Bonita 47.
Seven plays later, Connor Spina scored the second of his three touchdowns on a 26-yard run to give Bonita a 14-13 lead with 47 seconds left in the third quarter.
On Bonita’s next drive, the Saints appeared to be getting the ball back when Kingston Curtis sacked Bonita quarterback Daniel Andrade on third-and-seven. But Andrade’s helmet came off and it was thrown to the ground in celebration. The penalty gave Bonita a first down which led to Spina’s 1-yard touchdown run that made it 21-13 with 6:32 left.
Still trailing by only a touchdown and a two-point conversion, San Dimas’ final two drives ended with interceptions by Joe Parra.
“We’re a young team. We’re excitable,” San Dimas coach Mark Holman said. “We have a lot of juice, a lot of energy. It’s something we’re going to have to learn from.”