ARVADA — Theorius Robison took the handoff and broke off a shifty 69-yard touchdown run through traffic to tie the game between No. 2 Pomona and No. 4 Mullen.
“Robison was doing some amazing things in practice, but you just never know because it’s scout team and not full speed,” Pomona coach Jay Madden said. “He got out here and they had him a couple times, but he just put the jets on them. These are good, all-conference type guys whiffing. That was pretty impressive.”
Returning all-stater and Washington State commit Max Borghi did not play due to injury, but Robison filled in aptly with 196 yards and four touchdowns in the 52-22 win.
“With Borghi out, everyone has to step up,” Robison said. “We just have to step up while he’s gone, and when he comes back, that’s really going to help us a lot.”
On the next drive after tying the game, Pomona fed Robison again for an 18-yard touchdown run and suddenly Pomona led for the first time with 4:32 in the second quarter. With Mullen stalling and Pomona riding high, Madden and his team stepped on the throat.
“To score 52 and have two or three turnovers — if we can get rid of the turnovers, then we can really do some special stuff,” Madden said.
The Panther defense forced a three straight punts and two interceptions after trailing 14-7, while the offense put up 31 unanswered points.
“It was great blocking,” Robison said. “We had a great practice week and the team did great. It was really the line and the outside wide receivers with great blocking down the field that did the job.”
Pomona strayed from the Robison trend as Marquez scrambled to one side of the field, reversed direction and found Riley Govan in the back of the endzone. The 24-yard touchdown pass gave Pomona a 28-14 lead with just over two minutes before the half.
Marquez had 286 yards passing, three touchdowns and 73 yards rushing.
On the next drive, Pomona’s Kenny Maes intercepted a pass and returned it inside the five yard line. An unsportsmanlike penalty and a block in the back gave Pomona the ball at the 47-yard-line.
“The fact that we didn’t let (A’jon Vivens and Adrian Jackson) get over the top, that was important to us,” Madden said on the defensive gameplan. “I was really proud of them, and they’re young. I think there’s six or seven of them starting for the first time.”
McGuire Mallory nailed a 35-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter and Pomona took a 31-14 lead into halftime against Mullen.
There was no letting up for Madden’s squad.
“As a coach, it’s good and bad,” Madden said. “You’re happy that it happened, but now you’ve got to bring them back down to reality. First games are never an indication of what’s going to happen next.
“Now we’re on film, everybody knows what we’re trying to do, so we’re going to have to make adjustments every week to keep it going. I think this team is hungry.”
Marquez threw to Pospisil for 30 yards, then a 36-yard touchdown. And the defense kept chugging along as Kyle Moretti picked off another pass from Dominic Depizzol.
“The defense, man, they helped us out so much,” Robison said. “It takes pressure off of us a lot.”
Pomona had it’s early mistakes, but was able to collect itself.
Mullen’s Nathan Deitrick found himself with the ball in his hands underneath the scrum after Marquez saw the snap sail over his head. Three plays later, Alonzo Moon punched it in from one yard out for his second touchdown of the game to give Mullen a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Moon’s first of three touchdowns came as he broke through the line to open the scoring.
Marquez fumbled at the end of a 19-yard scramble on the next possession. It was then when Pomona’s defense stepped up to grab the momentum back.
“I thought (the defense) just played great,” Madden said. “We set them up in a bad position with the fumble. That’s seven points on the offense. Then, Mullen called a really nice play with their running back out of the backfield. Two plays in the whole game against them? That’s pretty impressive.”
“Hopefully our depth on that side of the ball will keep us fresh all year.”
