Orange County High School Football PREP EXTRA : Cherrington Runs Wild for Falcons

SANTA ANA —  When Santa Ana Valley and Bellflower met last season, Falcon running back Dwayne Cherrington was hardly a factor.

But he was the difference when the teams faced off Friday at Santa Ana Stadium in a nonleague game.

Cherrington, a senior, rushed for four touchdowns and returned a kickoff for another score as Santa Ana Valley won, 34-23.

Cherrington rushed for 279 yards in 23 carries for the Falcons (1-1). He was held to 44 yards in 15 carries as Bellflower won, 25-12, last season.

Friday, Cherrington scored on runs of 76, 51, 49 and 39 yards, and his kickoff return went for 92 yards. That turned out to be a key play, coming with 3 minutes 2 seconds left in the third quarter and giving Santa Ana Valley a 21-17 lead.

Bellflower (1-1) trailed, 13-0, midway through the first quarter but scored 17 consecutive points to take the lead before Cherrington took a kickoff on the left hash mark, cut to the middle and outran Bellflower defenders to the end zone.

Although he looked confident on the run, Cherrington said otherwise. “I didn’t want to go back there,” he said. “I was afraid I might fumble it.”

Cherrington’s final touchdown run put the game out of reach. He and quarterback Jason Parrott started an option play around right end. Two Bellflower defenders were about to tackle Parrott when he pitched to Cherrington, who was alone in the flat. He went 49 yards for the touchdown with 5:11 left.

“I kept my relationship with (Parrott) and he pitched it at the last possible second,” Cherrington said.

Cherrington turned a simple counter to the left into a 76-yard touchdown run with 4:34 left in the first quarter. Once he got past the line of scrimmage, he cut to the left side and went untouched down the sideline to the end zone.

He scored on a similar run from 51 yards out on his next carry to put the Falcons ahead, 13-0, with 2:07 left in the first quarter.

Bellflower’s first-half touchdown came after a bad snap with the Falcons in punt formation. Bellflower recovered on the Santa Ana Valley 16, and two plays later, Sean Rubolz scored from six yards out to cut the lead to 13-7.