ANAHEIM – What began as a scintillating matchup between two of the best athletes in the Empire League turned one-sided in the second half Friday night, as Quinten Pounds of Cypress set the Centurions on course for a 41-21 win over Tustin at Western High.
Pounds ignited the Centurions with a rushing TD and two interceptions in the second quarter, pulled them from behind once more with a third-quarter kickoff return for a score and then helped put them ahead for good with a 57-yard punt return that set up another TD.
The Centurions (6-1, 2-0) scored the game’s final 27 points to secure their first on-field win against Tustin since the Tillers joined the Empire League in 2010.
“We’re a second-half team,” Pounds said. “Every practice we’re going full speed, like it’s a game, and I think that’s what helps us.”
Pounds and Tustin wide receiver/cornerback George Wilson were matched up on both sides of the ball, but it was Pounds who had the slower start.
After the Tillers (4-3, 1-1) took a 7-0 lead on the opening drive of the game, Pounds fumbled a snap while in the Wildcat formation and the Tillers recovered. Wilson then outraced Pounds on a flare pattern and caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Alema Pilimai to stretch the lead to 14-0.
“He got me early in the game, but it doesn’t happen more than once,” Pounds said of Wilson.
Pounds capped the next drive with a 5-yard touchdown run, then snuffed out the Tillers’ ensuing possession with a leaping interception over Wilson.
The Centurions continued to move the ball and knotted the score at 14 on a 2-yard TD run by Taylor Williams, who finished with 174 yards on 23 carries.
Tustin recovered an onside kick to start the second half, marched down the field and took a 21-14 lead on Pilimai’s 2-yard keeper, but Pounds returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a TD to again tie the score.
Pounds’ 57-yard punt return led to a 1-yard TD run by Williams for Cypress’s first lead of the game at 28-21. Tustin’s snap over the head of the punter put the ball deep in Tillers territory and Cypress capitalized with Bobby Brito’s 12-yard TD catch for a 34-21 lead.
