NORCO — Utilizing a strong passing game, the Chaparral football team made it four consecutive seasons with a victory over Norco with their 56-28 win on Friday.
With both squads entering the game with a quarterback who had surpassed the 2,000-yard threshold for the season, the passing game became an early priority for both teams.
Winning the line battle, Norco (6-2, 1-2) had three sacks in the opening half. However, their secondary could not contain Chaparral junior quarterback Dane Weber.
Weber found open targets throughout the first half, completing 12 of 14 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns.
“Dane was being Dane,” Pumas’ head coach Andrew Ramer said. “Dane Weber is a playmaker. He’s been tested and seen a lot of great defenses.”
Countering Weber was Cougars’ junior quarterback Julian Medina, who would set up all three of Norco’s touchdowns, finishing the night with 202 passing yards on 15 completions, and 34 rushing yards on seven carries.
Despite the early offensive success, Norco struggled to maintain possession in the first half with two of its first three possessions ending in turnovers.
“We turned it over too much early and just let it get away from us,” Norco head coach Daniel Barlage said. “We gave up a couple big plays on the back end. It kind of snowballed.”
From the second quarter onward, Chaparral’s offense took over, scoring on seven consecutive drives from the start of the second frame to the beginning of the fourth quarter when the starters were pulled with a 35-point lead.
As the running game began to find success similar to the passing game, Weber would add two rushing touchdowns to his six total for the game, one on a 61-yard keeper.
Pumas running back Trevor Schneider spent his first two prep years at Norco before transferring to Chaparral for his junior campaign and had a nice return to Norco with 97 yards rushing on 16 carries and a pair of rushing touchdowns.
“(Trevor) had a great mindset,” Ramer said. “He treated it like (any other) football game and it showed. He wasn’t pressing. He was taking what they gave him, and everything was good.”
Weber and Schneider would close out their loud offensive efforts with Schneider on the receiving end of a 19-yard touchdown pass from Weber.
Weber would finish the game completing 18-of-20 passing attempts for 291 yards, 110 rushing yards on five carries and six total touchdowns. He had three or more completions to five different receivers.
The victory puts Chaparral (4-4, 2-1) in a win-loss record tie with Murrieta Valley for second in the Big West-Upper league, with a home game against Roosevelt next week and league-leading Centennial two weeks out on the schedule.
“I think we’re respected in the league,” Ramer said. “We’ve had some battles with Centennial. At the end of the day, the next two weeks are preparing us for a deep playoff run.”
Norco faces Centennial next week.
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