[Photo] Santa Rosa Academy’s Connor Peterson (61) applies the pressure to Temecula Prep quarterback Vincent Warren (6) during Week Two action. Valley News/Action Captures Media Group
— SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY — The high school football season is almost one month into action, which means teams better start figuring things out if they want a shot at the postseason. The regular season is 10 games, five of those truly matter for playoffs, but a winning record is what is needed there. So, there is still time to tweak things, especially since league play is a couple of weeks away, which includes a week off, as long as a team participated in Zero Week. Without that game, there is no rest, no week off to heal, it is just an all-out grind through playoffs.
With all that said, it’s still a bit early to talk postseason, so here are the scores for Week Two high school football games involving local teams inside our coverage area, which were reported as follows:
THURSDAY, SEPT. 1
Linfield Christian (1-2) – 10, Rio Hondo Prep (2-0) – 28
Marina (0-2) – 18, Elsinore (2-1) – 28
San Jacinto (2-1) – 36, Chaparral (1-2) – 46
Liberty (3-0) – 34, Hemet (2-1) – 27
Lakeside (2-1) – 35, San Fernando (0-3) – 0
Redlands East Valley (0-3) – 8, Temecula Valley (2-1) 49
Heritage (0-3) – 21, Trabuco Hills (2-0) – 47
Shadow Hills (2-1) – 0, Great Oak (1-2) – 35
Hamilton (0-3) – 0, Cantwell-Sacred (HoM) (2-1) – 60
FRIDAY, SEPT. 2
Murrieta Valley (1-1) – 51, Apple Valley (2-1) – 57
Paloma Valley (2-1) – 21, King (2-1) – 42
Murrieta Mesa (1-2) – 54, Riverside Poly (1-2) – 20
Temescal Canyon (0-2) – 0, Yucaipa (1-2) – 28
Tesoro (2-1) – 20, Vista Murrieta (3-0) – 41
Cornerstone Christian (0-2) – 0, Victory Christian Academy (3-0) – 46
Warner (0-2) – 0, Cal Lutheran (2-0) – 52
SATURDAY, SEPT, 3
Santa Rosa Academy (2-0) – 42, Temecula Prep (0-1) – 7
St. Monica (1-1) – 12, St. Jeanne de Lestonnac (1-1) – 44
Editor’s notes from last week start with Murrieta Valley as they took to the road, headed for Newton T. Bass Stadium in Apple Valley, where they had their work cut out for them against the Sun Devils. The first half was owned by the Nighthawks, especially by Bear and Tiger Bachmeier setting the tone for the offense, who were up by 17 points at the half. Tiger had 147 yards receiving and two touchdowns in the first half alone, and finished the night with 274 all-purpose yards, including 11 receptions and a 98-yard kick return for his third touchdown. His brother, Bear, threw for 219 yards on 17 completions, ran in two touchdowns and one interception in the game.
The Apple Valley defense proved pivotal in the outcome of the game, which set the tone for the Sun Devils who scored on each of their final five drives for the comeback that led to a 56-51 victory over Murrieta Valley. Senior Dustin Reynolds had three tackles for a loss in the third quarter for the Sun Devils and the deciding touchdown on a 45-yard interception return. Reynolds also scored the go-ahead touchdown with 4:04 remaining in the fourth on a 30-yard run where he broke four tackles in the secondary. Apple Valley’s offense was led by senior quarterback Noah Celie, who threw for 230 yards on 14 completions and ran for 45 yards and two touchdowns on nine attempts.
Back locally in Temecula, Chaparral’s Devyne Pearson rushed for 201 yards on 29 carries and scored five touchdowns, leading the host Pumas to a 46-36 victory over the San Jacinto Tigers. San Jacinto (2-1) tied the game at 14 when quarterback Dereun Dortch hit receiver Dillon Gresham on a quick out pattern and Gresham sprinted 50 yards for the score. Dortch then added a two-point conversion. Pumas’ kicker Rickey Martinez drilled a 27-yard field goal with 18 seconds left in the half to give Chaparral (1-3) a 17-14 lead. The two teams would then combine for seven second half touchdowns in a back-and-forth affair. On the night, Dortch completed 16 of 23 passes for 239 yards while also rushing for a touchdown. Gresham hauled in seven catches for 128 yards and had 198 all-purpose yards and running back Malachi Brown added 96 yards on 13 carries. Senior QB Caron Tyler, who shared time with sophomore Dash Beierly, ended the night for the Pumas gaining 88 yards on 10 carries and completed 4 of 6 passes for 52 yards.
Over in Murrieta, the Vista Murrieta Broncos jumped out to an early lead, weathered a Tesoro comeback, and ended the night with a 41-20 victory. The win is their third straight as sophomore QB Akili Smith Jr. put on a show by completing 22 of 30 passes to six different receivers, airing out 266 yards on the night. Tesoro did mount a comeback in the fourth quarter as Gavin Shaigineik threw a 22-yard touchdown to Todd Nelson and a 17-yard touchdown to Dylan Flippin to cut the Vista Murrieta lead to 34-20. The Titans then forced a three-and-out but turned the ball over on downs. Vista Murrieta capitalized by driving 55 yards on seven plays with junior running back Alexander Vega scoring on a four-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach. Defensively, the Broncos forced nine punts on the night and held Tesoro to 30 yards rushing. Grant Wayne led all Vista Murrieta receivers after hauling in seven passes for 112 yards. Brody Guinn added six receptions for 76 yards.
Wrapping up this week’s game notes are the Liberty Bison, who improved to 3-0 with a 34-27 win over Hemet. It was the second anxiety-filled game of the season for the Bison, who beat Valley View 28-27 in the season opener. Junior all-around player Eddie Smith alleviated the pressure when he returned an interception 19 yards for a touchdown with 1:14 left in the game. Heading into Week Two, Liberty averaged 261 rushing yards per game, led by junior Anthony Ruelas (274 yards) and junior quarterback Troy Dulyn, who had thrown for 210 yards and two touchdowns. Junior linebacker Eddie Smith was the defensive leader with 18 tackles. Hemet (2-1) did make some key defensive adjustments in the second half of their Week Two matchup, managing to shut down Liberty’s offense. Bulldog QB Draven Lopez tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Orion Hudson to cap the opening drive of the second half getting them back in the game. Christopher Washington then returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown to help Hemet notch things up with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter, but the luck of the Bison proved to run strong. Anthony Ruelas led the Liberty backfield with two touchdowns and finished the night with 132 yards on 17 carries and also returned a kickoff 79 yards. Hemet’s Daniel Mendoza rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries and also caught four passes for 44 yards.
Other Week Two wins came from Elsinore, Temecula Valley, Lakeside, Great Oak, Cal Lutheran, Santa Rosa Academy, St. Jeanne de Lestonnac and Murrieta Mesa, who got their first win of the season for new head coach Oscar McBride.
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 scores, please email sports@reedermedia.com.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
