BEAUMONT — The Beaumont High football team, led by the elusiveness of receiver Braedon Miller and the hard-hitting of linebacker Matt Casas, defeated visiting Summit of Fontana 41-14 on Friday night in a non-league game.
Miller caught seven passes from quarterback Jeremiah Duhu for 100 yards and two touchdowns and Casas meted out big hits from the middle of the field as Beaumont (3-0) turned a 13-7 lead after one quarter into a runaway over Summit (2-1).
“The offensive line was ready,” Beaumont’s Danny McMullen said. “We had kind of a short-out at the start, but we fixed it and talked to each other and we did our job.”
McMullen, Cristian Flores Martinez, Kobe Avila, Dominick Vargas and Chase Beckham dominated for Beaumont up front.
Miller got Beaumont headed in the right direction with a weaving 39-yard catch and run from Duhu to put the Cougars up 7-0 early.
Now a senior, Miller is fully invested.
“Definitely, I feel a responsibility,” he said. “As a leader and as an athlete – somebody the team might need to rely on to make plays – I feel like I need to come through. It’s just in the moment; it’s just what I do.”
Five minutes later, Quillan Davis scored on a 7-yard run for Beaumont which widened its lead to 13-7 with 5:55 left in the first quarter.
But Summit, infused with the toughness of coach Nick Metheny and workouts a few times a week with the former, iconic Fontana and Kaiser high school coach Dick Bruich, did not go away easily.
The SkyHawks ran the ball well at times and finally cashed in a 1-yard TD run by Francisco Hernandez to cut Beaumont’s lead to 13-7 with 5:55 left in the first quarter.
Beaumont excelled on special teams all night, and Darius Stuart’s 24-yard punt return for a touchdown put Beaumont firmly in front 20-7 early in the second quarter.
Duhu’s 6-yard pass to Miller for a score late in the first half made it 27-7 Cougars and there was no coming back for Summit, try as it might.
“Braeden played well as always,” Beaumont coach Jeff Steinberg said. “He’s a big-time player, so we know how he’s going to perform week in and week out. I was really pleased with some of the big special teams plays we had.”
Early in the third quarter, Beaumont took complete control when Josiah Harris blocked a punt and Nathan Gordillo ran it in from 25 yards for 34-7.
“A lot has to go right to win a football game,” Steinberg said. “Sometimes it might not always be perfect or pretty, but we did a lot of things right and we have those to celebrate.”
One of the pluses Friday night was the defense, led by Casas.
“I feel good,” Casas said. “I just go out there and play my game and I rely on everyone else to help me out. Without the D line and the outside backers doing their job, I wouldn’t be able to make so many plays.”
Beaumont’s Duhu threw for 183 yards. Nicholas Ortiz ran hard for Summit, picking up 73 yards.
Matheny does not like to lose, but he was encouraged.
“I never want to lose – we don’t line up to lose, but we had a whole boatload of starters out,” Matheny said. “Our kids played hard. We had a ton of sophomores out there and guys out of position. I’m encouraged for the future.”
Beaumont had already rolled up more than 50 points against San Jacinto (51-14) and Cathedral (52-31).
