Desert Hot Springs shows fighting spirit in comeback win over Rubidoux

The Desert Hot Springs Golden Eagles may have learned a few things about themselves Friday in a 20-14 season-opening victory at home over the Rubidoux Falcons.

Desert Hot Springs rallied from a 14-6 deficit with just five minutes left in the game for a victory that even had the Desert Hot Springs head coach enthused.

"We stuck with it. Adversity called and came knocking and we kicked it right back out," head coach Roy Provost said. "We handled it very well for a young team. I'm very impressed with these guys."

The Golden Eagles held a 6-0 halftime lead thanks to a 30-yard scoring run in the first quarter by Ozyas Crawford. But Rubidoux rallied for two scores in the second half for a 14-6 lead.

More: High school football preview: Desert Hot Springs looks to duplicate last year's success

With time winding down, Desert Hot Springs sophomore quarterback Jaylen Turner connected on a long scoring pass to senior Jaire Broach on what Provost said was a 50-50 ball that Broach snatched out of the air, and the two-point conversion tied the game at 14-14.

The Golden Eagles then put together a defensive stand, forcing a Rubidoux punt. In the closing seconds of the game, Turner and Broach again connected on a long pass with Broach tackled at the 1-yard line. From there, Seth Silva ran the ball in for the clinching touchdown.

"It's huge," Provost said of the victory for the young team . "We have a really big sophomore class. These guys were freshmen last year and now we have 30 sophomores on our team. We lost 18 seniors off of last year's team, so this is a big win."

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Desert Hot Springs shows fighting spirit in comeback win over Rubidoux