Heritage, Rancho Verde play for Ivy League title Thursday

AC Rondon (5, left) comes down in the end zone for one of his touchdowns Friday night. Photo by Amber Garcia

The Ivy League football championship will be on the line Thursday night at 7 when Heritage plays at Rancho Verde in the final game of the regular season.

The game is being played on Thursday because of a shortage of referees on Friday, said Heritage High athletic director Scott Moore. Both teams enter the game with 2-0 league records, having beaten Paloma Valley and Valley View already.

Rancho Verde has an 8-1 overall record, with the Mustangs' only loss coming against Upland, 30-7, on Sept. 6. Last year the Mustangs beat Heritage 17-10 in the final week of the regular season, ending the Patriots' string of eight consecutive league titles. Rancho Verde went on to reach the CIF-SS finals, where it suffered its only loss of the season, 24-13, to Upland.

Heritage is 7-2 this season, with its only losses coming against Etiwanda (21-18) in the season opener and against Cajon (24-7) two weeks later. The Patriots won their first two league games by scores of 37-28 over Paloma Valley and 39-10 over Valley View.

Last week's victory once again showcased the running abilities of Kenny Teter and AC Rondon. Teter scored on touchdown runs of 75 and 90 yards. He is now over the 1,500-yard mark in rushing for the season. Rondon ran for three touchdowns covering 5, 34 and 15 yards.