YUCAIPA — Too big. Too talented. Too much.

The Warren of Downey football team proved unstoppable Friday night, dominating Yucaipa with a 41-17 victory in the CIF Southern Section Division 7 semifinals.

The Bears (6-7) advance to meet Rio Hondo Prep in the championship game. Warren is in a section title game for the second consecutive season after losing to St. Bonaventure of Ventura 24-21 in the Division 3 final last season.

On the opposite side of the field, there was some disappointment for a Yucaipa team making its third semis appearance. The Thunderbirds lost section title games to Agoura 21-20 in 1984 and Bloomington in 1997.

Warren’s road to the title game was not smooth. The Bears lost their first five games this season.

The Bears’ initial starting quarterback transferred out before the season, and the team’s offense suffered. But then Jamar Malone II transferred in from Nevada and the Bears began to click.

“He came in late, around the end of September,” Warren coach Adam Leonard said of Malone. “I’m excited — we were really locked in. It’s been a lot to persevere through. But our kids worked their (rears) off and followed the process.”

Yucaipa’s Will McHargue, who rushed for 70 yards for the Thunderbirds besides starring on defense, scored on a 1-yard run with 6:28 left in the first half to give them a 14-13 lead.

But Warren took just three plays to tally on a 25-yard run by Malone to take the lead 20-14 with 4:57 left in the half.

The Bears started hot in the second half, as Malone tossed a 28-yard completion to Jalen Ross and followed that with a 20-yard scramble to the T-birds’ 32-yard line. Five plays later, Warren scored on an 11-yard run by Skyler Lendsey to put the Bears ahead 27-14.

Yucaipa’s Connor Miernik connected on a 34-yard field goal to bring the T-Birds to within 27-17 late in the third quarter.

But on Yucaipa’s next possession, the Bear defense rose and stopped Yucaipa short on a fourth-and-3 play near midfield.

It took Warren seven plays to score on a 13-yard run by Teralle Watson to increase the Bears’ lead to 34-17 with 9:47 left in the game.

Warren’s Maurice Stepter then picked off a Yucaipa pass on the T-Bird 18. Five plays later, Watson scored on a 1-yard run as the Bears increased their lead to 24 points — too much OF a lead for the methodical T-Birds to overtake.

“We started to dominate at the end,” big Warren defensive tackle Kymani Hollis said. “In the first two quarters, things were a little rocky. It feels amazing to be going to the championship game.”

Malone threw for 155 yards and rushed for 113 for Warren. Lendsey added 78 yards on 15 carries. Ross caught five passes for 58 yards and Jaylen Whitaker nabbed two passes for 72 yards, including a 62-yarder for a touchdown on Warren’s first offensive play.

Warren offensive linemen such as Jesse Mower, Mattai Jefferson, Xavier Baca, and Kenny Pineda did a stellar job protecting Malone and opening holes for Lendsey.

Besides McHargue’s heroics, Logan Barbour rushed for 95 yards on 30 carries for Yucaipa (8-5).

“I just do what I can for the team and try to put together 48 minutes of Yuc-Town football,” McHargue said. “It was a tough matchup and we had a really good game plan, but we didn’t quite execute it to the standard that we needed to. But it was a historic season for us — it’s been in the making for a long time. A lot of our guys have been playing together for 10 years, counting the Junior All-American program. So we had a lot of good chemistry going and we just wanted to make a run and make a statement.”

Yucaipa did that, but so did Warren. And now the Bears are headed to the title game again.

“We have an opportunity to be the first team at Warren to win a section title, and so I’m excited for the kids,” Leonard said.