Diamond Bar, Wright Spin Past San Clemente

San Clemente had “The Fly.” But Diamond Bar had Jason Wright--”The Whirling Dervish.”

Wright, a senior tailback, churned his way to 241 yards and four touchdowns in 25 carries as top-seeded Diamond Bar outscored San Clemente, 49-21, Friday night in the second round of the Southern Section Division II playoffs before 7,000 at San Clemente High.

San Clemente’s “fly” offense confused Diamond Bar for a half, but it couldn’t keep up with Wright and his running mate, fullback Dwight Wright, who rambled for 118 yards and three touchdowns in 15 carries. Diamond Bar (12-0), the state’s fourth-ranked team and the division’s defending champion, was tied with San Clemente (8-4) late in the first half, 21-21.

But the Brahmas scored twice within 20 seconds to take a 35-21 halftime lead, and they put the game out of reach late in the third quarter with Jason Wright’s fourth touchdown, a four-yard run.

“I thought we’d score some tonight, they’ve got a very good football team,” San Clemente Coach Eric Patton said. “It’s hard to match them yard for yard.”

And it was impossible for San Clemente’s defense to match Jason Wright’s speed and strength. Each time it seemed as if Wright was stopped, he would pump his legs and run through defenders or carry them for as many yards as he could.

“He’s the real deal,” Patton said. “I haven’t seen anybody like that in a long time, unless they’re playing on Sundays.”

Wright, who is deciding between Stanford, California and Northwestern, said he planned on having a big night.

“We’re a running team,” said Wright, who scored on runs of nine, 12, 11 and four yards. “We came out to establish the run early and we did that.”

Patton said his defense was simply overmatched.

“It’s physics,” he said. “He’s fast, he’s strong and he changes directions well. He did it all and he was too much for us.”

By halftime, Wright had 153 yards and three touchdowns. But he was nearly matched by San Clemente’s James Allen, who had 132 yards and two touchdowns in the first half to keep the Tritons close. Chris Smith had also gained more than 100 yards by halftime, rushing for 108 yards in six carries. It was Smith’s 70-yard run on a sweep that trimmed Diamond Bar’s lead to 21-13. Allen followed with a four-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion pass from Dan Coviello to Tim Burnette tied it at 21.

But Diamond Bar took a 28-21 lead with 2:30 left in the half by driving 80 yards in six plays, capped by a Jason Wright 11-yard run on a power sweep. The Brahmas scored again 20 seconds later on Dwight Wright’s 11-yard run after recovering Smith’s fumbled kickoff.

Diamond Bar made some adjustments in the second half and shut down Allen, who had 46 yards in 10 carries after the half, and the passing game. Coviello completed three of 12 passes for 22 yards.