In the second game of the season, it was a must-win match up between Grand Terrace and Yucaipa as both teams vied for a better record in order to step-up their CIF rankings.
The first two drives were seasoned with interceptions for both teams. Titan senior, Manuel Camacho #26 intercepted a Thunderbird short pass to be quickly ran out of bounds, giving the Titans possession of the ball. On the second drive, Yucaipa’s wide receivers seemed to be able catch everything as the drive ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass. For Grand Terrace on offense, nothing was connecting when Yucaipa’s front 7 blitzes to pressure Mekhi Lewis #12 to throw a pass into double coverage for an interception that was returned by the defense for a touchdown.
Yucaipa is up on Grand Terrace 14-0 going into halftime. Coming out of halftime, Grand Terrace was fighting to keep their perfect record alive as Yucaipa looks to start the season hot with a win. On the first drive for Grand Terrace, they still could not get the ball rolling as they punted for the third time of the game. On Yucaipa’s second drive, they took advantage of an exhausted Grand Terrace defensive line and ran the ball a few times to cap off a drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass.
On Yucaipa’s next drive they had a 3rd and long on the 35-yard line after a huge sack by Troy Steptoe #27. On the next play Yucaipa’s quarterback showed off his arm and let one fly to the corner of the end zone to his guy and caught it over the Titan's head for a touchdown to run up the score to 28-0 for a good performance by Yucaipa’s quarterback.
Grand Terrace’s Mekhi Lewis #12 and the receiver were finally clicking and getting first downs when Mekhi Lewis #12 passed a quick slant to Lonzel Bradford #13 that outran the defender running across the field then juked out the cornerback and the 2 safety’s then sprinted to the end zone to dive for the pylon for the touchdown for an ESPN "Top 10" type play to get the crowd fired up for a comeback!
In the final minutes of the third quarter, Grand Terrace started out with good field position and started bulldozing Yucaipa’s Defensive line with a strong push from the Grand Terrace offensive line and Anthony Valencia #33 running like a Mack truck. After Yucaipa stopped them for a third down and 6 at the 35 yard line, Lewis #12 ran a roll-out-right quick pass in which the pocket fell apart on him. However, with his lightning-quick, speed rolled out left and with his eyes downfield threw a bomb for 6 foot+, Garrett Ostrinski #16 for the much needed touchdown!
At the start of the 4th quarter, Yucaipa got their running game going and scored on an 8-yard running play to diminish what was left of Grand Terrace’s hope of winning.
With a score of 34-13. Yucaipa Thunderbirds (1-0) came out on top to start their perfect record as Grand Terrace came out with a (1-1) record but can learn from their mistakes in the film room to win their next game.