Injury-riddled Rancho Mirage falls just short in road loss to Jurupa Hills

Jeremiah Johnson caught two touchdown passes and threw another, and teammate Jeremiah Williams added a pair of scores, but it was not enough for Rancho Mirage High School in a 30-27 loss to Jurupa Hills.

The Rattlers overcame a 14-0 deficit to take a seven-point lead before Jurupa Hills scored just before the half to tie the game at 21-all. It turned out to be a big score.

"The touchdown before the half should've never happened," Rancho Mirage head coach L.D. Matthews said.

Williams scored the first touchdown, on a 52-yard run, before Johnson caught two passes from quarterback Julian Hernandez. Hernandez was filling in for last year's Desert Empire League offensive MVP Yanni Padilla, who was sitting out with an ankle sprain.

On the final score, with Johnson in at quarterback after Hernandez left the game with an injury, Johnson threw a touchdown pass to Williams. A late Jurupa Hills field goal proved to be the difference in the game.

Rancho Mirage had a chance to take the lead on the final drive, but the clock emptied on the Rattlers' offense near midfield.

Matthews said that he was particularly proud of how the Rattlers hung in the game despite being ravaged by injuries. He said that eight defensive starters are currently out with injuries, and five offense starters are also out. Six players are already done for the season because of injuries.

Matthews added that the approaching bye week will be good for his team before the start of DEL play.

"I'm really proud of our guys," Matthews said. "They keep working. We're just a few healthy players away from winning some of these games."

He added, "We'll heal up and then it's go time in the DEL."

Rancho Mirage (2-3) visits Shadow Hills on Oct. 4.

Andrew John covers sports for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Injury-riddled Rancho Mirage falls just short in road loss to Jurupa Hills