[Photo] Tahquitz running back Dorion Levingston (6) catches a pass against Linfield defenders Micah Little (32) and Grant Taylor (2) in Week Three action. Valley News/Action Captures Media Group
— It was quite the week and weekend, locally and nationally. From the deadly Fairview Fire in Hemet wreaking havoc in our own backyard, to the Queen of England passing away, the 21st anniversary of the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks, and of course, the return of NFL football, life was busy for sure.
For the fans of local prep football teams, it really was the Fairview Fire in Hemet that made things exceptionally hard to follow for sports, and rightfully so. Conditions in the area forced the cancellation and postponement of many events for the high schools in the surrounding areas. The Hemet Unified School District kept campuses closed the entire week, which meant high school sports teams were not able to practice or host events on campus. That did result in swift changes for area teams that had games scheduled against Hemet area teams.
As for pigskin plans, the Tahquitz football team, who was scheduled to play at Linfield Christian in Temecula this past Saturday night, kept their fingers crossed they could still play. Practices were canceled outside all week, but according to Tahquitz athletic director Mike Sims, Linfield Christian allowed the Tahquitz football team to practice on its field Friday in order to prepare for the game.
Not only was it a gesture of good faith between two respectable coaches, it also just so happens that head coaches DeChon Burns (Linfield) and Stephon Pace (Tahquitz), have a bit more history than most would expect. Burns, who is in his ninth year at Linfield, and Pace, in his sixth season at Tahquitz, actually grew up playing the game against, and with each other.
Rivals in high school, the two would go on to play together at USC, become roommates and the best of friends through their playing days and through their adult lives. Of course, being top-tier athletes they would keep their competitive nature at the forefront of their on-field friendship as well.
“From video games to basketball, football, even lifting weights, we were ultra-competitive growing up, so this game was going to be no different in mindset,” Burns said.
Though they met up during spring passing leagues a couple times over the years, this year would be the first time the two would ever have their programs face each other in a regular season game. While both have had their fair share of ups and downs in their respective divisions of the Southern Section of the CIF, this first meeting would go to the Titans, 55-14.
“We have gone from enemies to teammates and roommates, to coaching for a championship, and now back to friend-enemies,” Pace said. “He has done an excellent job at Linfield, and it was strange to think we were going to be coaching against each other. I pull for him every week and I know he feels the same, and we of course knew this week was going to be different.”
The two are so close that they are godparents and uncles to each other’s kids, and though both their fathers have passed away over the years, their moms are also the best of friends.
“I know my mom said the same thing his mom did,” Burns laughed. “You better win this game, they said.”
Though Pace says there was no real razzing after the game between the two, they did talk for hours about the game, their programs and caught up on life.
“I have a lot of respect for him,” he said. “It was a crazy week and I was so proud of my guys to come out and get a big win with everything going on around them. They had little practice time due to the fire.”
Burns said there was a little bit of chipping back and forth during the game, but there is always a pass given when two competitors stand on their platform. “The score is not really indicative of how we played, but it’s a new week and we both have to focus on our next opponent,” he said.
According to Pace, they will catch back up in person with their annual golfing trips in the spring.
Of course, with the Fairview Fire wreaking havoc in the area this past week, there were some cancellations which included Rialto at Hemet, California Military Institute at Santa Rosa Academy and St. Jeanne de Lestonnac at Calipatria. The remaining games involving local teams inside our sports coverage area were able to play and here are those scores.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 8
Cal Lutheran (2-1) – 8, Coastal Academy at (2-1) – 14
FRIDAY, SEPT. 9
Murrieta Mesa (1-3) – 14, Murrieta Valley (2-1) – 56
Redlands East Valley (0-4) – 18, Elsinore (3-1) – 35
Paloma Valley (3-1) – 28, Heritage (0-4) – 19
Rancho Christian (2-2) – 19, Ontario Christian (4-0) – 41
Temescal Canyon (0-3) – 0, Ramona (2-1) – 41
Vista del Lago (1-3) – 14, Great Oak (2-2) – 24
SATURDAY, SEPT. 10
Tahquitz (3-1) – 55, Linfield Christian (1-3) – 14
Temecula Valley (3-1) – 24, Chaparral (1-3) – 20
Hillcrest (2-2) – 24, Lakeside (2-2) – 7
Cornerstone Christian (0-3) – 33, Rock Academy (1-1) – 53
Editors notes from last week include the Menifee Bowl, a pair of Murrieta teams and a pair of Temecula teams. After this past week of prep football matchups, there are teams in the area that have a full month of games under their belt already. Crazy, right? The school year is moving along quickly, that’s for sure.
After returning home from a tough loss to Apple Valley last week, the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks looked back to normal against crosstown rival and former Southwestern League foe, Murrieta Mesa. The visiting Rams did not have much luck during the evening, which was plagued with rain, dropping their third game of the season, 56-14.
Murrieta Valley (2-1) running back Asa Chatman rushed for 186 yards on 14 carries and scored four touchdowns, all in the first half. An early turnover by the Nighthawks didn’t faze the home team who would go on to score touchdowns on their next four possessions to take a 28-0 lead. Murrieta Mesa (1-3) got on the board with two minutes left in the second quarter when quarterback Julian Silva threw a 15-yard touchdown to receiver Jeffrey Engelstad.
After the halftime break, Murrieta Valley scored touchdowns on its first two drives of the second half before taking their foot off the gas. Running back Dorian Hoze scored on a four-yard run and QB Bear Bachmeier added his third touchdown of the game, scoring on a 12-yard run. The Nighthawks defense held the Rams to zero or minus yards on almost 20 different plays, forced Murrieta Mesa to punt six times and had three sacks and two turnovers.
Murrieta Mesa running back Kahleel Willis did add a bit of light when he closed out the scoring on a 19-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. Murrieta Valley rushed for 271 yards on the night with Bachmeier completing 10 of 17 passes for 152 yards as his brother Tiger (Bachmeier) led the receiver core with four catches for 67 yards. Silva completed 17 of 27 passes for 92 yards and Engelstad had six receptions for 44 yards.
Murrieta Valley will travel to King next week while Murrieta Mesa will host La Quinta.
Temecula Valley tops Chaparral 24-20 in a penalty filled contest Saturday night on the campus of Chaparral.
The Golden Bears used a big third quarter (22 points) to turn the game around after going into the locker room down 14-2 at halftime.
In a game pushed back to Saturday evening, Temecula Valley came out dull against crosstown rival Chaparral, but found their heart when they scored 22 unanswered points to beat the Pumas, 24-20, and pick up their third win of the season. Temecula Valley (3-1) managed only 66 yards of total offense in the first half, so they relied heavily on their defense who held their own out of the gate, but the Pumas scored twice in the final four minutes of the half to take a 14-2 halftime lead.
Chaparral (1-3) tried to mount a late comeback when QB Dash Beierly connected with Raymond Valencia for a 27-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-20 with 6:20 remaining. Temecula Valley would then run nearly six minutes off the clock before punting. The Pumas took possession midway through their own half of the field with 33 seconds remaining and were successful in moving the ball within scoring distance. With a few seconds left, Beierly chucked the ball in the direction of receiver Stacy Dobbin, but it was broken up in the end zone as time ran out.
Temecula Valley’s Bryce Dewald completed 10 of 16 passes for 118 yards, one TD and also ran for 42 yards on 15 carries. Ryan Sanchez finished the game with 121 yards of total offense for the Golden Bears with Jaden Eddy scoring the lone rushing touchdown. Lucas Lenhart had the other Temecula Valley touchdown, scoring on a pick-six in the third quarter.
Beierly completed 11 of 25 passes for 166 yards with two touchdowns, Devyne Pearson rushed for 90 yards on 17 carries and Caron Tyler was 5 for 7 with 44 yards during his time at QB, throwing one touchdown of his own. Jacob Alvarez and Tommy Long also hauled in touchdown receptions for Chaparral. As for the Golden Bears, they will have a chance to capture the Temecula city championship when they host Great Oak Thursday, Oct. 27, in their final game of the regular season.
The annual Menifee Bowl football game between Heritage and Paloma Valley also took place last week and for the first time since the inception of the titled game (est. 2010), Paloma Valley walked away with the hardware after 12 straight losses. Heritage is winless in their 2022-2023 campaign so far and this 28-19 loss to their rival school was no help in getting them ready for league play, which starts in two weeks. Paloma Valley is sporting a 3-1 record and is currently first in the Sunbelt League standings. Other Week Three wins came from Elsinore and Great Oak.
This season the Valley News Sports Department will be focusing on the schools and sports inside a limited coverage area due to print space and manpower. Those schools include Great Oak, Temecula Valley, Chaparral, Murrieta Valley, Murrieta Mesa, Vista Murrieta, Linfield Christian, Rancho Christian, Elsinore, Paloma Valley, Liberty, St. Jeanne de Lestonnac, Heritage, Temecula Prep, Hamilton (Anza), Cornerstone Christian, Temescal Canyon, Lakeside and the River Springs Charter Schools (no football programs).
*All stats, schedules, photos and scores are supplied by local high school athletic directors, MaxPreps, CIF-SS offices, contributing writers/photographers and countless fans of the games via social media. Is your team’s score missing? Let us know if your school is inside our coverage area and would like to be mentioned.
To submit any additions or corrections to the schedule or stats, please email sports@reedermedia.com.
