Montclair Prep, Oak Park Open Inland Playoffs Today

Montclair Prep opens the Southern Section Inland Conference football playoffs without running back Tyler Robuck, but backup Michael Jones should bolster the Mounties in their 7:30 matchup tonight against Boron High at Pierce College.

Robuck, who has a bruised back, has gained 464 yards this season but Jones actually has more yardage. The 6-1, 192-pound sophomore has rushed for 627 yards and nine touchdowns.

Montclair Prep (6-4, 4-1) shared the Alpha League title with Western Christian and enters the playoffs as the league’s No. 1 representative. Boron (8-2, 3-1) is the second-place entry from the Desert-Inyo Small League.

Montclair Prep Coach Pat Blackburn plans to exploit his team’s size advantage.

“We’re going to challenge them physically. We’re not going to play finesse football,” he said.

In another Inland Conference game, Oak Park (7-3, 4-2), an at-large team from the Tri-Valley League, plays Big Bear (9-1, 6-0), the Anza League champion, at Big Bear Middle School today at 2 p.m.

Oak Park, which lost its final two games of the regular season, is playing Big Bear for the first time. Big Bear operates a run-and-shoot offense from a Power-I formation, and Oak Park Coach Ron Veres gets multiple headaches trying to figure out a way to defend it.

“They are a combination of Oklahoma and BYU,” Veres said. “You don’t stop them. You only hope they stop themselves.”

Big Bear quarterback Mike Bonetto, the second-leading passer in San Bernardino County, completed 122 of 266 passes for 1,461 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also ran for eight touchdowns.