MURRIETA — Down 21-7 early in the third quarter of Friday’s CIF-Southern Section 8-Man Division I championship game, Flintridge Prep football coach Russell White knew he had Cornerstone Christian right where he wanted them.

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Cornerstone Cooper Lewin (10) returns a punt 65 yards for a touchdown against Flintridge during the first half at Murrieta Mesa High School in Murrieta on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. Cornerstone Christian (Wildomar) plays Flintridge Prep (La Canada) for the CIF Southern Section’s 8-Person Division 1 football championship. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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“Every year I always knew, ‘Let’s just get to the second half. And let’s be in a good place.’ We don’t have to be winning. But if I’m close, with this team, I’m gonna getcha.”

The Wolves made simple adjustments on defense and on offense rode the arm of senior quarterback Asher Jones to score 29 unanswered points in the final two periods and complete a perfect 10-0 season with a 36-21 victory at Murrieta Mesa High School and win the school’s first CIF football title since 2003.

Jones threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns, Owen Willingham caught six passes for 125 yards and Mac Peutet ran for two scores to help the Wolves erase the bitter memory of the 2024 championship loss to California School for the Deaf-Riverside, when the potential game-winning field goal drifted wide as time expired.

“Yesterday I was thinking, remembering how I felt that night when the kick went wide, and I realized that we’re not losing today,” Flintridge Prep defensive lineman Daniel Eitan said. “Cornerstone has great players, but they never went through that heartbreak. That heartbreak powered us. We wanted it more.”

White, who won back-to-back titles 8-man at Desert Chapel in 2004 and 2005, guided Flintridge Prep to its sixth football crown.

“They are grinders. And they know what to do when they smell blood in the water. And this is the first time I’ve seen them take advantage of it,” White said.

The loss was the only blemish on this year’s record for Cornerstone Christian (11-1), which was playing in its first title game.

“We don’t get to choose God’s plan, so we’ve got to keep fighting,” Crusaders coach Anthony Cabada said.

“We coaches have to do a better job of getting them ready,” he said. We weren’t prepared, but we’ll be back.”

Cooper Lewin’s 65-yard punt return for a touchdown after Flintridge Prep’s first series electrified the Crusaders, who stretched the lead to 14-0 when Lewin and quarterback Dylan Kelly hooked up for a 25-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter.

Flintridge Prep answered on the next possession with a 41-yard strike from Jones to Owen Willingham to go into halftime trailing 14-7.

Cornerstone adjusted its running game to open the second half, and Kelly tore off a 45-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. Kelly, who had 148 yards on 31 carries, capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run for a 21-7 Cornerstone lead.

“I knew our defense wasn’t going to be able to stop their passing attack, so I was trying to take the ball out of their hands by slowing the game down with time of possession,” Cabada said.

But Flintridge Prep shifted its defensive line scheme and stymied the Crusaders the rest of the way.

“We just slid one man over,” White said.

Peutet’s 2-yard touchdown run cut the lead to 21-14 in the third quarter, then Matteo Baker tied the game on the next possession when he snagged a deflected ball and spun away from the defense for a 17-yard touchdown.

Ben Baker gave the Wolves the lead with an 11-yard run with 6:18 to play, and Peutet’s 28-yard gallop with 1:34 remaining had the Wolves’ bench howling with joy.

“This team is unlike any other I’ve ever had,” White said. “They aren’t big. They don’t have all the talent. But they were fighters. And that’s what I’ll remember. Not just for winning the championship, but for being fighters.”


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