ONTARIO — The Colony and Carter football teams started getting pumped long before the opening kickoff. Carter’s Jamil Peters and Colony’s Ryan Kinard were face-to-face as the teams started warming up on their respective halves of the field. One would have thought the teams were long-standing league rivals rather than nonleague foes with little history.
But it was Colony prevailing 46-27 on Friday night at Colony.
The Titans (2-1) pulled away late, benefiting from three Carter turnovers and some ill-timed penalties.
Conditioning also proved to be a factor as several Carter players were slowed by cramps in the second half. Colony coach Steve Randall went to a faster-than-normal paced offense to try to wear down Carter. Colony was playing its third game while Carter (1-1) had played just one, and that was a blowout in which his starters played just 16 offensive plays.
“That was definitely the game plan, to try and wear them down,” Randall said. “We thought that was to our advantage, and they have some big guys and they wear down a little faster usually.”
Carter coach Alex Pierce thought it was a factor as well.
“We do a lot of conditioning but it’s a little different when you come in with two games under your belt,” he said. “Last week almost hardly counts because our starters played so little.”
Both teams missed scoring opportunities in the first half. Colony, ranked fourth in the CIF Central Division, marched down to the Carter 16 on its first drive and opted to go on fourth down rather than settle for the field goal. It didn’t get it.
Carter had even more misfires as the Lions lost two fumbles, one at the Colony 2 in the closing seconds of a first half that ended with Colony up 17-13.
Pierce thought that was a huge point in the contest.
“We get that score and we’re ahead at the half,” he said. “It was a momentum killer.”
Colony got 2-yard runs by Tommie Dorsey and Kinard, with the third score being a 36-yard field goal by Axl Mendoza.
The highlight of the half for the Lions, ranked seventh in the Inland Division, was a 53-yard touchdown run by Jordan Hou that came with the Lions facing a fourth and 6 at their own 47. The Lions intended on punting but the snap was bad and Hou was left to scramble after dodging an initial defender. It gave the Lions a 13-10 lead
The other score was on a 14-yard run by Daijon McFoy.
The Titans pulled away late. They led 31-19 after a 25-yard toss from Thompson to Tommie Dorsey, only to have Carter respond with Zamore Zigler returning the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to make it 31-27.
It was 38-27 after a 3-yard run by Kinard with 7:42 left.
Colony threatened again and lined up to go for a fourth down at the Carter 6. But the Lions jumped offside, giving Colony a first down. It scored on the next play with Thompson running it in from the 3 to put the game out of reach.
“I was real pleased with how we did offensively,” Randall said. “We had two offensive line out injured and that makes a lot of difference.”
Carter managed 225 yards on the ground but just 93 through the air but 49 came on one play.
Thompson threw for 200 yards and ran for 91. The Titans managed 196 on the ground with Kinard adding 70 yards on 21 carries.
Colony will face Pomona next week while Carter will be at home against Temecula Chaparral.
