HOMECOMING MAGIC: ‘Reggie, Katie, Reggie, Katie, Reggie, Katie’ … Reggie Wins First Half, Katie Wins Homecoming

La Verne Day was September 19 at the Los Angeles County Fair. Reggie Turner Night was September 21 at Glenn Davis Stadium, where the senior scatback scored six touchdowns in less than a half of football, including five in the second quarter, leading Bonita to a dominant 57-16 win over Rowland in the Hacienda League opener for both teams.

Turner might have scored more if head coach Adrian Medrano hadn’t pulled the plug on Turner for the entire second half.

“I wanted to get back in there,” said Turner, who totaled 114 yards in the game, 94 of those coming on the ground.

Trailing 3-0, Bonita got on the board after the first of Turner’s six touchdowns with 2:05 left in the first quarter. Turner’s one-yard touchdown dive was set up by a 20-yard corner pass from quarterback Tanner Diebold to Victor Magallanes and two completions to Mark Salce.

The next time Turner touched the ball, he was in the end zone again after completing a 17-yard touchdown gallop. After Bearcats linebacker Thomas Loy recovered a Raiders fumble on Rowland’s own 37-yard-line, Diebold once more handed the ball off to Turner, who did the rest. Bonita led 21-3 with 10:55 remaining in the second quarter.

Rowland answered with an 80-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback George Campos to Alec Winters, cutting Bonita’s lead to 21-10 after the extra point. Then a few plays later, Diebold was intercepted by Mateo Lares, and all of a sudden, a game that Bonita had seemingly salted away was back in play.

The Bonita defense, however, stiffened, with the Bearcats taking over on Rowland’s 45-yard line. Working with a short field, Joey Hubbard burst up the middle to the Rowland 19-yard line. Moments later, Turner collected his fourth touchdown on a three-yard run. After a two-point conversion by Riley Brungard, Bonita led 29-10 with 6:07 left in the half.

The Bonita defense rose up again. After a poor punt by Rowland out of its own end zone, the Bearcats took over on the Raiders 13-yard line. With 3:46 remaining on the clock, Turner found paydirt again, with a four-yard touchdown run.

Turner wasn’t quite finished. After Bonita took over on its own 44-yard, Diebold marched the Bearcats down to the 14-yard line when the junior quarterback dumped the ball off in the flat to Turner, who danced into the end zone with touchdown No. 6 to give Bonita a 42-10 lead. After the Brandt Davis extra point, Bonita led 43-10.

With five seconds left in the half, Victor Rojas, who had a nose for the football all night, recovered a Rowland fumble. Mercifully, Diebold took a knee and led his team into the locker room. Meanwhile, on the field, Katie Ortega was named homecoming queen to chants of “Katie, Katie, Katie.”

In the second half, Medrano handed the ball off to his second unit. Shane Pitts ran hard and sophomore quarterback Cody Brazzill and sophomore receiver Richie Cochran combined for a two-yard touchdown pass to round out the scoring.

“We got some pretty good blocking up front,” Medrano said after addressing his team. “And what can you say about Reggie Turner. He’s a pretty good football player.”

Medrano added that he tried to spread the football around, but conceded it was just Turner’s night. As much as he enjoyed watching Turner turn it on, he was already thinking about next week’s opponent, Walnut.

“They’re extremely well coached,” Medrano said. “They always do a lot of things to give us headaches.”

One can only imagine the fits Turner must be giving the Walnut coaching staff as they prepare for the suddenly resurgent Bonita Bearcats.

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