It was all about the offense Friday, Sept. 19, at the North Area Athletic Complex.
Bear Creek running back/receiver Tommy Flanagan and Pomona tailback Donovan Bowens combined for 517 yards and six touchdowns in an offensive shootout.
“I told him (Flanagan) before the game, ‘It’s going to be me versus you the whole game.’ That is what happened,” Bowens said.
Bear Creek and Pomona racked up more than 1,000 yards of total offense in the battle between Class 5A Big 8 League football powerhouses. When the dust finally settled, Pomona (4-0, 2-0 in league) stormed the field at NAAC after a 41-31 victory.
“A lot of players came out mentally tough, ready to fight,” Bowens said. “This is the best game I’ve played in my high school career.”
Bowens opened the game with a 57-yard touchdown run on the second offensive play from scrimmage. He finished with 28 carries for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
While the Panthers’ explosive tailback ate up yards at will, it was Pomona junior quarterback Nathan Grimes that was key in the Panthers opening up a 34-7 cushion minutes into the third quarter.
Grimes had a 52-yard touchdown run, a 2-yard touchdown pass to senior Michael Sullivan and touchdown passes of 11 and 26 yards to junior Drew Ebner as Pomona scored 27 unanswered points. The first-year starting quarterback finished 10-of-11 passing for 143 yards and three touchdowns.
“He (Grimes) played out of this world,” Pomona coach Jay Madden said. “There is a reason I’m not calling the offensive plays anymore.”
Madden gave a lot of credit to his brother Brad Madden and Bill Pospisil, the Panthers’ assistant coaches who are calling the offensive plays, for opening up Pomona’s playbook against Bear Creek (3-1, 1-1).
The Bears did make their run in the second half. Junior quarterback Zach Thenell tossed a trio of touchdown scores to Flanagan in the second half. Thenell finished 21-of-34 passing for 358 yards and three touchdowns.
Besides scoring all four of Bear Creek’s touchdowns, Flanagan rushed 11 times for 83 yards and caught six passes for 188 yards.
“We held Flanagan to something like 20 yards rushing last year,” Madden said. “I knew he wasn’t going to let us do that again. He plays with such heart and emotion. Bowens was the best running back on the field this Friday night. Tommy was the best receiver.”
While Thenell and Flanagan put up big numbers in the second half, it was Pomona senior defensive back Tony Costello who ended the comeback attempt. Costello, who knocked away a fourth-down pass intended for Bear Creek senior Dajuan Mack in the end zone in the second quarter, intercepted Thenell in the end zone with just under three minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
“We just realized what we had to do when Bear Creek got in the red zone,” Costello said. “Bear Creek is a hell of a football team, but our defense came out prepared.”
Being prepared wasn’t something Bear Creek coach Tom Thenell said his defense was coming into the battle of unbeaten teams.
“We never showed up on defense tonight,” coach Thenell said. “Pomona beat us tonight. They deserve the credit.”
Flanagan was also critical of Bear Creek’s defense.
“You can’t compete if your defense doesn’t help. Defense wins championships,” Flanagan said. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. Our preparation during the week has been very poor. We are taking stuff for granted.”