Column: Many happy returns for Centennial in 67-20 rout of Norco

Dana Catalano, the mother of Corona Centennial quarterback Anthony Catalano, created a little stir on Twitter on Wednesday when she proclaimed it should be a “national holiday” in honor of Coach Matt Logan’s 49th birthday.

On a crisp, cool Thursday night, No. 1-ranked Centennial (10-0, 5-0) showed once again why so many fans in the Inland Empire and elsewhere have become such passionate admirers of Logan, who has guided Centennial to 14 league titles and nine Southern Section titles in 19 seasons as coach.

In locking up the No. 1 seed for the Pac-5 Division playoffs, the Huskies pulled off the rarest of feats — returning three kickoffs for touchdowns in a 67-20 victory over Norco.

“Never, ever,” Logan said when asked whether any of his teams had achieved such an accomplishment.

“Back to back to back,” All-American receiver Javon McKinley said.

McKinley had kickoff returns of 96 and 90 yards for touchdowns. When Norco decided not to kick the ball to him, J.J. Taylor ran 99 yards for a touchdown.

“I think they got tired of kicking the ball to me,” McKinley said. “It ended up the same result.”

McKinley looked every bit like the best uncommitted senior college prospect in California. He caught six passes for 174 yards and one touchdown. On his kickoff returns, he’d unleash a burst of speed and no one could catch him even though he’s 6 feet 2 and 200 pounds.

Norco (8-2, 4-1) relied on quarterback Victor Viramontes, a Michigan commit who passed for 277 yards and two touchdowns and scored on a 35-yard run.

But Centennial has too many weapons. Stanford-bound safety Chacho Ulloa contributed two interceptions. And there was quarterback Catalano, who rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns and completed nine of 15 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns.

Forfeits affect Long Beach Poly

There’s a little bit of uncertainty for the Pac-5 playoffs, such as will 19-time champion Long Beach Poly even get into the playoffs? On Thursday, Poly officially forfeited four games, including three in the Moore League, for having an ineligible player. That means Poly’s record goes from 7-2 overall to 3-6 and from 5-0 in league to 2-3. Poly is likely to end up in a three-way tie for third place.

According to Moore League secretary Lisa Ulmer, the three schools’ names would be put into an envelope, and the first name drawn would be eliminated. The tie would be broken based on head-to-head competition between the two remaining schools.

It has been a rough final week of the regular season. Lawndale, which was 8-1 and leading the Ocean League, had to forfeit four games because of an ineligible player. Inglewood Morningside forfeited four games.

There are about 15,000 transfer students each year in California, and schools are responsible for clearing them to play. Students are required to change residences with their entire family unit or must sit out about one month of the season if they did not move.

If families aren’t truthful and schools don’t do their due diligence, forfeits can ruin seasons.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATSondheimer