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CORONA, CA: Not once, but twice, the 26th annual Inland Empire All-Star Football Classic appeared to be over. It wasn't until the third time that it was official with the Riverside County All-Stars pulling out a 34-31 overtime victory over the San Bernardino All-Stars on Saturday night at Corona High School.
First it was a 28-0 halftime lead for San Bernardino that appeared to be insurmountable. Then it was the Riverside two-point conversion with 34 seconds left in the game that appeared to have completed the comeback for a 29-28 victory only to be called back because of holding.
After a 38-yard field goal by Upland's Jake Van Ginkel gave San Bernardino a 31-28 advantage in overtime, Riverside Arlington running back Superior Reid officially ended the night with a 25-yard scoring run on Riverside's first play of overtime.
Miller quarterback Eric Shufford capped the first San Bernardino possession with a 5-yard scoring run for a 7-0 lead that would quickly grow.
With 6:19 remaining in the first quarter, Los Osos linebacker Greg Sherwood jumped a route and intercepted a Riverside pass with nothing but 41 yards of green between him and the end zone. After the Grizzlies senior returned the first interception of the game for a 14-0 lead, it took San Bernardino just two plays on the next possession to find the end zone for the third time in the first quarter.
Cajon quarterback Thomas Carter found Summit receiver Devon Blackmon, who verbally committed to Oregon at the Under Armour All-American game on Wednesday, down the sideline with a 54-yard touchdown reception, making the score 21-0 with 49 seconds to play in the first quarter.
After another Riverside punt, the San Bernardino All Stars slowed the pace with a 10-play drive, but the result was the same - another trip to the end zone. Shufford did the honors with a 1-yard run on third-and-goal, cutting back against the grain on what began as a sweep. His touchdown 6:32 before halftime ballooned the San Bernardino lead to 28-0, a lead it took into the locker room after holding off one final Riverside drive before the half.
As dominant as San Bernardino was in the first half, Riverside was equally dominant in the second half with 28 consecutive points, the final of which was a 9-yard touchdown run by Corona Centennial running back Barrinton Collins with 34 seconds remaining in the game to force overtime.
Riverside County appeared to have won the game with a two-point conversion in regulation when Collins, running what appeared to be a sweep to the left that was going nowhere, pulled up and found Corona receiver Tanner Henry on the opposite side of the field where he scampered into the end zone. The apparent game-winning conversion, however, was called back because of a holding penalty.
The Riverside comeback began with an innocuous touchdown pass from Vista Murrieta quarterback Derrick Brown to Corona Santiago tight end Namdi Agude with 5:32 left in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 28-7.
Riverside didn't pull within two touchdowns until the fourth quarter when it converted an interception into a Reid 25-yard touchdown run to officially grab hold of the momentum.
After the fifth consecutive San Bernardino punt, Riverside drove 50 yards in 2 1/2 minutes capped by a 7-yard run by Corona Roosevelt running back Joey Legere with 6:52 to play.
Riverside got the ball back one final time with 3:19 remaining and went on a 58-yard game-tying drive in 2:45, with Collins doing the honors with a sweep to the right on second-and-goal.
