Rancho Mirage wins outright DEL football title with 27-14 win over La Quinta
Among the many words coaches at Rancho Mirage High School spoke at halftime on Friday, two words stood out the most.
"Wake" and "up."
The Rattlers were right there, on the cusp of the league football title, and they were blowing it. Rancho Mirage had turned the ball over four times in the first half and was trailing. They weren't taking advantage of a chance to win the Desert Empire League at home on Senior Night.
Fired up, Rancho Mirage players took the field in the second half and grabbed the DEL title with a 27-14 win over La Quinta. With Xavier Prep's loss to Palm Springs, the win allowed the Rattlers to claim the title outright with one week to go in the regular season.
It is Rancho Mirage's first league football title since 2016.
"It's been seven years since we've put a number on a banner," Rattlers head coach LD Matthew said. "It's been a long time coming. Just real proud of our kids. It's great to be DEL champs."
Rancho Mirage (6-2, 4-0 DEL) running back Jeremiah Williams led the way with 123 yards and three touchdowns rushing.
The moment
With the Rattlers trailing 14-7 to start the second half, the Rattlers quickly stopped a La Quinta (5-4, 2-2) drive, then marched down the field and scored to tie the game at 14-all. Rancho Mirage quarterback Yanni Padilla ran the ball into the end zone for the score.
Following another stop, the Rattlers drove down the field again. This time, Williams punched the ball into the end zone.
"We knew coming in that they were going to be very good," senior linebacker Aiden Flores said of La Quinta. "So we just had to bring it, and we eventually did."
On La Quinta's third drive of the half, Erick Beltran intercepted a pass to set up another score for the Rattlers to give Rancho Mirage a two-score lead.
In the second half, Rancho Mirage outgained La Quinta 154 yards to 81, holding the Blackhawks scoreless in the final two quarters.
"Our defense is, I think, probably the most underrated in the league," Matthews said.
"Hats off to our kids to come back in the second half and do something different," Matthew added.
The stars
Aside from Williams, Padilla threw for 213 yards and rushed for 71. He did, however, throw two interceptions.
Edward Johnson caught four passes for 127 yards for the Rattlers. Kobee Finnikin caught three passes for 59 yards.
Defensively, Beltran recorded two interceptions in the game. Flores recovered a fumble and recorded 12 tackles.
For La Quinta Steven Perez carried most of the load on offense, rushing for 93 yards and a touchdown. Gabriel Lua recovered a fumble and Kevis Salter and Major Hinchen intercepted passes.
The chatter
Jeremiah Williams of Rancho Mirage: "A league championship is amazing. I still don't feel like we've reached our potential as a team. There's a lot more to come."
Aiden Flores of Rancho Mirage: "We're going to stay humble about this. The goal is to keep working and to keep getting better."
Up next
Rancho Mirage will finish the regular season next week against Xavier Prep, having already clinched a CIF playoff berth. La Quinta will finish its regular season against Shadow Hills, looking to snag a top-three finish in the league.
Andrew John covers sports in the Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Rancho Mirage tops La Quinta, 27-14, to win first league title in 7 years
