TUSTIN – Myron Miller returned to the sidelines Friday night as head coach of the Tustin football team, and the Tillers stepped back in time with a masterful performance against Compton Dominguez.
Miller brought back the double-wing rushing attack he perfected in his 18 years as coach of the Tillers, piling up 376 yards on the ground in the 39-20 victory at Tustin High.
“We went back to pounding it out,” Miller said. “We went back to what I know.”
Miller, 72, retired from Tustin’s head coaching position after the 2012 season – the same year his wife of 31 years, Kathy Miller, died of cancer – but stuck around as an assistant the last three seasons, when the Tillers switched to a spread offense. His double-wing system helped turn former players such as DeShaun Foster into rushing standouts, and the beneficiaries this season appear to be KC Carr and Derek Soto.
Carr rushed for 128 of his 233 yards in the first half and scored three of his four touchdowns in that span to help the Tillers to a 25-0 lead. Soto, who has been mostly injured the last two seasons, added another 111 yards rushing and a touchdown in the second half.
Dominguez, ranked fourth in the CIF-SS preseason Division 4 poll, struggled with a lack of depth that forced most of its players to go both ways.
Tustin started its first drive on its 13 and drove behind Soto and Carr, who capped the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run. Carr, a junior, added TD runs of 7 and 67 yards in the second quarter before Jorge De Leon finished off the first half with a 34-yard field goal.
