RIVERSIDE — Throughout his team’s eight-game, 358-day losing streak, Arlington football coach Kevin Argumosa’s message to his team was consistent … trust the process and eventually we’ll break through.
Friday night, against a Fontana side looking for the program’s first 3-0 start since 2000, Arlington did just that after giving the Steelers an 11-0 lead. Isaac del Torro finished with four touchdowns and 200 all-purpose yards to lead the Lions offense.
“We had some self-inflicted mistakes early on, but I was proud of how we responded to the adversity and pulled it out,” Argumosa said. “When you go through a streak like that, you feel like the ball is always going to bounce against you, but the guys kept the faith and that’s not easy to do.”
Ayden Brannum got Fontana (2-1) on the board with a 42-yard field goal on their first offensive series. They then tacked on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Ivan del Villar to Giovanny Villalpando and a two-point conversion with 2:01 left to take their 11-0 first-quarter lead.
Arlington (1-2) got on the board with a field goal 59 seconds into the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback Daniel Rogers then completed a 75-yard touchdown pass to Del Toro and the Lions pulled even after a two-point conversion with nine minutes until halftime.
“Our linemen deserve a ton of credit, both for the way they protected me in the passing game and how they gave us opportunities in the running game,” Rogers said. “We knew just how close we were to a few more wins last year and that our time was tonight.”
Just before the half, Arlington’s special teams unit had a field goal block negated by a roughing-the-kicker penalty. A pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after the play turned a nearly 60-yard Steelers field goal attempt into an untimed 25-yard attempt that was also blocked and the teams remained tied at intermission.
Sebastian Celedonio gave Fontana a 17-11 lead with a 45-yard touchdown run on the Steelers’ first second-half series, but a two-point conversion was intercepted.
Del Toro’s second touchdown of the night was a goal-line run that, combined with a successful two-point conversion, put Arlington back in front 19-17 with 5:50 left in the third quarter.
“All of that summer conditioning paid off in that fourth quarter,” Del Torro said. “There were a lot of questions about our offense and whether we could put enough points on the board, and I think we showed we do have what it takes on that side of the ball.”
Fontana led 23-19 after three quarters, but Del Toro put Arlington back in front with a 32-yard touchdown run around the right edge with 8:08 left.
Ryan Kellogg’s interception with 3:38 left put Arlington on the doorstep of a win and Del Toro took the Lions through it with one last touchdown run as the clock ran out.
Arlington will play Segerstrom in the first of back-to-back Thursday night games on this three-game homestand next week while Fontana plays Ontario on Friday.
