Tustin Takes Over After Half to Win

Tustin Coach Myron Miller couldn’t contain himself after the Tillers defeated La Puente Bishop Amat, 20-16, Friday night in a nonleague football game at Northrup Field in Tustin.

He paced around midfield, taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

“I have so much energy,” Miller said. “This is the biggest win for us since we beat Servite [in 1997] for the Golden West League title. I keep scheduling all these Division I teams and we keep losing. Now we are legit.”

The victory didn’t come easy. Miller said he really had to lay into his squad at halftime, when they trailed, 10-3.

“He really got on us,” Tustin running back Ricky Miller said. “He was yelling so bad that he almost made guys cry. But, it was a positive thing, we came back out and kicked some butt.”

The Tillers (2-0) accumulated only 66 yards of offense in the first half, which frustrated Myron Miller, who saw his team set up the running game perfectly, but fail to move the ball.

“I couldn’t understand it,” he said. “Why we couldn’t move the ball. We just didn’t have any intensity in the first half. So, I had to challenge them to play some football at halftime and they stepped it up as a team and won a big game. “

The Tillers, who threw the ball only twice in the game, opened the second half with a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped by Steven Diaz’s 18-yard touchdown run with 7:24 remaining, tying the score at 10-10. A snap over the punter’s head on Bishop Amat’s ensuing drive went out of the end zone, giving the Tillers a two-point lead, 12-10.

Tustin opened the fourth quarter with another impressive drive, going 90 yards in nine plays, including a crucial fourth-and-one conversion with the ball on the Lancers’ 20-yard line. Ricky Miller bowled through the line, taking the ball and two tacklers to the six-yard line. He scored on the next play with 9:05 remaining. Miller finished the game with 116 yards in 18 carries.

It was the seventh consecutive loss for Bishop Amat (0-2), which was ranked No. 5 in Division I in the preseason polls. The streak dates to last season when they lost their final five games and failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 20 years.