By james art REDLANDS — Cajon football coach Nick Rogers loves senior management, and that’s especially true for his 2024 team.
The Cowboys improved over the course of the season and won their third straight game with a 44-13 victory over Citrus Valley on Thursday night.
Cajon is 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the Citrus Belt League. Their only CBL loss was to league leaders Beaumont on October 4.
Citrus Valley (2-6) is still in contention for a playoff spot if they can beat Redlands East Valley next week. That would give the Blackhawks a 3-2 record in the CBL.
“I’ve seen this senior class grow over four years,” said Rogers, who is in his 11th season as Cajon’s head coach. “What’s especially good is that the defense came together.”
The score wasn’t much in doubt from midway through the second quarter. Senior Brandon Rivers ran for three touchdowns in the first 17 minutes of the contest.
He ran for an 8-yard touchdown with 1:41 left in the first quarter and added a 9-yard run with 33.5 seconds left in the first quarter. Cajon made two 2-point conversions after each score. Rivers capped the scoring with an 8-yard touchdown run with 7:38 to play in the second quarter, giving the Cowboys a 23-0 lead.
“We came together as a brotherhood,” Rivers said. “There’s not a lot of arguing, and if someone makes a mistake, we pick them up.”
Senior quarterback Evan Powell ran the offensive engine from that point on. He threw two touchdown passes that lifted Cajon to a 37-0 halftime lead. The final two quarters were played with a running clock.
“My job is to get the ball to our receivers and let them run,” Powell said. “I am not surprised by our success. We knew we could be a good team.”
Powell missed some time with an injury earlier this season, but is unaffected by the start of CBL play. Rogers said Powell’s effort has been a big factor in the success of Cajon’s offense.
“We just gave Evan the keys and let him drive the machine,” Rogers said.
Cajon hosts Yucaipa next week and will begin the CIF Southern Section playoffs the week after that.
It turned out that Cajon’s overall speed was too much for Citrus Valley. Damien Johnson provided the highlight for the Blackhawks with an 82-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half. Johnson had trouble picking up the ball, but once he did, he was able to outrun Cajon’s coverage from the kickoff.
“We’ve got to clean things up,” Rodgers said. “It’s exciting to watch the defense play.”
Powell is excited to get ready for the playoffs, using a trademark line from ring announcer Michael Buffer.
“We’re ready to rumble,” Powell said.