Prep Football: Rancho Bernardo High’s turnaround season ends just short of section title

By this time last year the Rancho Bernardo High football team already had a few weeks to digest a second straight dreadful one-win season.

On Saturday, the Broncos were driving for a potential game-tying score with five minutes to go against the No. 2 team in the county in the San Diego Section Division II championship game.

Yep, Rancho Bernardo has come that far that quickly.

But there would be no storybook ending to the program’s year of revival, as the top-seeded Vaqueros made one last stand to hold on for a thrilling 14-7 victory to claim the Division II championship at Southwestern College.

Rancho Bernardo started the potential game-tying drive on its own 34-yard line and moved the ball all the way to the Vaqueros’ 25 before turning the ball over on downs when Tucker Reed’s pass on fourth-and-12 fell incomplete with 1:32 left.

El Capitan (13-0) picked up one first down and ran out the rest of the clock, ending the Broncos’ hopes at capturing their first section championship since 1995 and a shot at playing in a CIF Division III SoCal Regional game next week.

“Of course we thought we were going to drive down there and score a touchdown,” said Rancho Bernardo WR/DB Kameron Calhoun, who caught four passes for 29 yards and set the offense up with great field position a few times with solid punt and kickoff returns. “You have to think that. But El Cap is a great team and they made some good plays.”

The Broncos fans that made the trip to Chula Vista stayed standing and applauding far after the final whistle blew. They recognized just how much their football team had accomplished this year: first Palomar League title since 2004 and first championship game appearance since 2001 just to name a few things.

“There is no shame or embarrassment here,” Rancho Bernardo coach Tristan McCoy said. “There was zero expectation for us to go this far. We are going to hold our heads up high.”

The Broncos should, and not just for finishing with a 10-3 record after going 2-19 over the past two seasons. Rancho Bernardo also gave the undefeated Vaqueros all they could handle on the biggest stage.

The Broncos recovered a fumble, forced seven punts and got the ball back on downs once while holding the high-powered offense of El Capitan to a season-low 14 points. Vaqueros QB Brad Cagle, the Offensive Player of the Year in the Grossmont Hills League, completed just 12 of 26 passes for 174 yards.

“I thought that if we could hold them to 14 points on defense our offense would be able to score enough to win the game,” McCoy said. “But you have to give their defense a ton of credit. I thought we would be able to run the ball, but they played a great game.”

Anthony Barnum, whose 1-yard TD run just over four minutes into the game gave the Broncos a 7-0 lead, finished with 69 yards on 19 carries. Rancho Bernardo struggled to move the ball most of the game, finishing with just seven first downs and punting it away seven times.

Still, Rancho Bernardo had the ball four times in El Capitan territory after the Vaqueros took a 14-7 lead on a 6-yard run by Cagle with 1:27 to go in the third quarter. But the Broncos could not punch the ball into the end zone.

“What it comes down to is they just made a few more plays than we did,” McCoy said.

El Capitan tied the game at 7-7 with Cagle’s 24-yard strike to Isaiah Capoocia with 3:33 left before halftime. The Vaqueros went on an 11-play, 88-yard drive before Cagle’s 6-yard run gave them the lead for good.

The Broncos might not have a section banner to hang in the gym, but the season they turned in will go down as one of the more memorable ones.

“I am so proud of this team and the way we came out fighting this whole season,” Rancho Bernardo senior linebacker Evan Jones said. “It means so much for us to come this far and have this comeback this season and bring some respect back to the program.”