Bomberger Does It All for Valencia

Jeff Bomberger rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns in 12 carries and had seven receptions for 127 yards to lead Valencia to a 42-6 victory over Claremont in a first-round Southern Section Division II playoff game Friday night at Claremont.

Bomberger, a senior, scored on runs of 26 and 63 yards. Valencia (8-3) will play San Clemente in a quarterfinal next Friday.

Bomberger’s first touchdown capped a 74-yard, nine-play drive on Valencia’s first possession. His second came with 9:45 left in the game and gave the Vikings a 35-6 lead.

Claremont (6-5) pulled to within one, 7-6, on two Ryan Harper field goals in the second quarter, but Valencia scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes to take a 20-6 lead at halftime.

Sophomore Mike Herrick, who completed 23 of 35 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns for Valencia, threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Shane Morales with 2:41 left and a seven-yard scoring pass to Joe Hernandez with 21 seconds left in the half.

Claremont running back Jamaal Floyd, who had touchdown runs of 80 and 29 yards nullified by penalties, rushed for 58 yards in 16 carries before leaving the game in the second quarter with what was believed to be a mild concussion.

John Ortega

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Diamond Bar 29, Rancho Cucamonga 20 -- Diamond Bar scored 22 unanswered points in the first 16 minutes and held on for the victory at Chaffey College.

The Brahmas (8-3) secured the victory with 3:24 left to play when Jo Beaudion scored on a one-yard run, one play after Diamond Bar recovered a muffed punt.

Rancho Cucamonga (7-4) had pulled to within 22-20 with 4:20 left in the third quarter on a 10-yard pass from Justin Fellhauer to Patrick Chung, but Fellhauer was stopped on a two-point conversion run.

The Cougars got the ball back twice more before the muffed punt but could only manage one first down.

Diamond Bar built a 22-0 lead early in the second quarter, taking advantage of good field position on its first six possessions for three field goals and two touchdowns.

In the time Diamond Bar built that lead, Rancho Cucamonga had only one first down. But the Cougars rallied to score twice in the final four minutes of the first half to cut its deficit to 22-14.

-- Dan Arritt