CORONA – The allure of pitting Orange County and the Inland Empire in an inaugural all-star football game filled Corona High on Saturday night.
But a tightly contested game didn’t follow.
USC commit Ykili Ross of Riverside Poly scored three touchdowns as the Inland Empire defeated Orange County, 69-16, in the first O.C. vs. I.E. All-Star Classic front of an estimated 3,500.
El Toro All-County wide receiver Kaleb Fossum provided a late highlight with a 78-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the final play, but the Inland Empire dominated.
“For me, this was a situation where I saw some of the best high school football players … from the Inland Empire make phenomenal plays over and over again,” said Orange County coach Robert Frith of El Toro. “All credit goes to those players.”
Inland Empire led, 14-10, after the first quarter but scored 55 consecutive points with an array of speed led by Ross, a few trick plays and a suffocating defense.
The Inland Empire also ran the offense of Coach Matt Logan of Centennial of Corona to near-perfection, keeping Orange County’s defense off-balance much of the game.
Orange County’s offense struggled and produced only a 42-yard field goal by Porfirio Hernandez of Laguna Hills. Mission Viejo linebacker Parker Godfrey provided the other touchdown with a 47-yard interception return.
Orange County finished with 38 yards rushing and 56 passing. The Inland Empire racked up 608 yards offense.
Ross capped his MVP performance with a 48-yard interception return for a score with about 3:50 left in the fourth quarter, which featured a running clock.
Inland Empire scored 24 consecutive points in the second quarter to open a 38-10 lead at halftime.
Before the second-quarter blitz, Godfrey returned an interception 47 yards for a score to trim the Inland Empire lead to 14-10 with 1:35 left in the first quarter.
Orange County’s defense forced another turnover on the ensuing Inland Empire possession as linebacker Jason Lind of Orange Lutheran recovered a fumble at his 41 early in the second quarter.
But Orange County couldn’t capitalize, and Inland Empire pounced behind Ross and its trick plays.
Ross tipped a one-handed reception attempt to himself on a deep pass from Poly quarterback Chandler Drachslin for a 47-yard TD catch with 9:12 left in the second quarter. Ross’ second TD catch gave the Inland Empire a 21-10 lead.
Orange County had another chance to slow the outburst after it recovered a punt that bounced off the Inland Empire near midfield with 7:23 left in the second. But Orange County couldn’t capitalize again, and the Inland Empire responded with 89-yard scoring drive.
Wide receiver Nathan Meadors of San Gorgonio of San Bernardino capped the drive by throwing a 27-yard pass to wideout Louis Mayela for a 28-10 lead with 3:42 left in the half.
Orange County again tried to respond but a key penalty hurt a promising drive. Fossum appeared to break a 20-yard run inside the Inland Empire 10, but the third-down play was negated by a holding penalty. The Inland Empire forced a punt with just over two minutes left in the half.
JSerra running back Aaron Matthews broke a 32-yard run to the Inland Empire 33 to set up the scoring chance.
Inland Empire kept the pressure on until the end of the half. Running back Jacob Guglielmana of Elsinore capped a 93-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard TD run with 1:06 left. Ross sparked the drive with a 39-yard reception to the Orange County 24.
Ross then recovered a fumble on the Inland Empire’s low kickoff, and Gerson Moreira of Vista del Lago of Moreno Valley kicked a 29-yard field with 12 seconds left to make it 38-10.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
