Bonita Marshalls Impressive Air Blitz in 50-22 Win

Toure McCulley climbs the ladder to pick off an errant pass from Marshall quarterback Anthony Benitez.

A petition was seen going around the stands late Friday night to rename Glenn Davis Stadium in La Verne the Tanner Diebold-Garrett Horine Air Strip after the Bonita quarterback and receiver combined for four touchdown catches and 191 yards to help the Bearcats defeat Marshall Los Angeles, 50-22.

The pair made the field their personal runway in the first half. After Toure McCulley picked off Anthony Benitez’s pass, Bonita went to work on Marshall’s 32-yard-line. On fourth-and-nine, Diebold hooked up with Horine on a 32-yard post pattern for six points.

In Bonita’s next offensive series, Diebold and Horine struck again, needing just one down to travel 70-yards through the air for a second scoring strike. After the 2-point conversion, Bonita led 15-0.

Marshall responded to the aerial bombardment with some fancy footwork from Benitez who knifed nine yards into the end zone to cut Bonita’s lead to 15-6 with 3:06 left in the first quarter.

That only seemed to give Diebold and Horine time to refuel as the dynamic duo connected for scoring strikes of 12 and 57 yards in the second period.

“It felt good throwing the deep ball,” Diebold said moments after the game. “I had confidence that he would catch it if I got it in the area.”

For Horine catching a season full of passes in what amounted to a quarter and a half was something the senior had never experienced.

Garrett Horine demonstrates his catch-and-run move, a step he repeated for four touchdowns.

“That’s a first for me,” Horine said, standing next to his sandy-aired quarterback known as “Sunshine.” “They had pretty loose coverage so I thought I could score every time.”

While Horine was catching his breath, Diebold also feathered a 45-yard-strike to Austin Venegas in the closing seconds of the half, the senior receiver making a fingertip grab to haul in the pigskin.

Bonita head coach Eric Podley grounded Bonita’s air force in the second half, but that didn’t quite stop Bonita. Diebold would have to go back to the hangar content that he went 13 of 16 for 288 yards and five touchdown passes with no interceptions, a Brady-esque effort if ever there was one.

While enjoying the revival of Bonita’s air attack along with the win that saw Bonita complete the pre-season, 2-2, Podley knows the competition will get tougher.

“We have to enjoy these opportunities when they come, but we know next week against Diamond Ranch is going to be a much stiffer test. They’re much more athletic. It’s not going to be as near as easy.”

As for the 2-2 start, Podley said, “I think we should be 4-0. But I said at the beginning of the year, we’re a young team. We’re going to have ups, and we’re going to have downs. The plan is to be better later than sooner.”

Sooner, however, just got a wake-up call!

Bonita came out of the Marshall game in relatively good health. While starters Thomas Loy and Spencer Hoff will still be out, Podley said he expected to start the same offensive line next week.

“We need to have that continuity,” Podley said.

Bonita also needs the continuity of controlling the friendly skies.

Bonita welcomed back sure-footed kicker Brandt Davis, who had missed the previous two games with a thigh strain. It just so happened Bonita lost those two games. Hmmmmmmm.