It was Week Seven, which means, hurry up and get to Week Eight, Nine and Ten already! Only kidding, but the playoffs are officially less than one month away, so teams better have things figured out by now. Let’s keep it quick and to the point, so here are the scores, with our ever-so-popular Sports Editor notes for the Week Seven high school football games involving local teams inside the Valley News sports coverage area.
THURSDAY, OCT. 6
Inland Valley League
*Hemet (6-1, 2-0) – 21, Moreno Valley (5-2, 1-1) – 20
Ivy League
Temescal Canyon (2-5, 1-1) – 42, Heritage (0-7, 0-2) – 7
Elsinore (6-1, 2-0) – 23, Orange Vista (6-1, 1-1) – 22
*J.W. North (2-5, 1-1) – 35, Rancho Verde (1-6, 1-1) – 25
Sunbelt League
Paloma Valley (6-2, 2-0) – 37, Vista del Lago – (4-3, 0-1) – 30
FRIDAY, OCT. 7
Big West Conference-Upper Division
Chaparral (3-4, 1-1) – 28, Vista Murrieta (4-3, 0-2) – 20
Norco (5-2, 2-0) – 77, Murrieta Valley (5-2, 1-1) – 76
Big West Conference-Lower Division
Great Oak (4-3, 2-0) – 49, Corona (0-7, 0-2) – 0
Murrieta Mesa (4-3, 2-0) – 10, Temecula Valley (4-3, 1-1) – 7
Cottonwood League
Santa Rosa Academy (7-0, 2-0) – 30, Desert Christian (3-4, 1-1) – 12
Maranatha (6-0-1, 2-0) – 55, Hamilton (0-6, 0-2) – 8
Majestic League
Cornerstone Christian (2-5, 2-0) – 41, Southlands Christian (4-1, 1-1) – 0
Manzanita League
St. Jeanne de Lestonnac (5-1, 4-0) – 42, California Military Institute (1-4, 1-2) – 21
Temecula Prep (4-2, 4-0) – 16, Silver Valley (4-3, 3-1) – 6
Mesquite League
Linfield Christian (2-5, 1-1) – 34, Arrowhead Christian (4-3, 1-1) – 13
Mountain Pass League
Liberty (7-0, 2-0) – 40, Citrus Hill (0-7, 0-2) – 0
*West Valley (6-1, 1-1) – 21, Perris (5-2, 0-2) – 12
*San Jacinto (5-2, 2-0) – 55, Tahquitz (5-2, 1-1) 48
SATURDAY, OCT. 8
Riverside Poly (3-5, 1-1) – 31, Rancho Christian (2-5, 0-2) – 7
Majestic League
Cal Lutheran (3-3, 1-0) – 72, Calvary Baptist (1-6, 0-2) – 26
Editor’s notes from last week include a record setting showdown in Murrieta, an Elsinore takedown and two small schools with big numbers.
Kicking things off last week was Thursday action as the Elsinore Tigers took down the Orange Vista Coyotes, who had not lost yet heading into that game. Orange Vista’s high-powered offense got started late, which Elsinore capitalized on during the opening minutes. Tiger’s running back Mykai Skinner scored twice out of the gate for a double-digit lead and some breathing room. Defense would be the key for Elsinore as they forced three turnovers in the game and held off a late advance from the Coyotes for a 23-22 homecoming victory.
Last year the Ivy League title was split three ways (Elsinore, Heritage and Temescal Canyon), but this season Elsinore (6-1, 2-0 in league) wants to ensure they stay out in front. The Tigers are the front runners at the top of the standings with three games to play. Despite the loss, Sire Gaines kept his MVP-like season going for Orange Vista (6-1, 1-1), running for a career-high 239 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns while also catching five passes for 52 yards. Skinner was the workhorse for Elsinore, rushing for 187 yards and three touchdowns, Adrian Stankevich led the defense with 17 tackles and Drew Sprague’s second quarter field goal would be the deciding factor for the win.
In small school action, the St. Jeanne de Lestonnac Mustangs and the Santa Rosa Academy Rangers are making some noise in the area. St. Jeanne running back Malik Douglas (Jr) found himself in the Top 30 for running backs, not only in the CIF Southern Section but nationally, with over 1300 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns. That ranking was going into last week’s game against CMI. Douglas and Julian Waite (defense) were selected the players of the game in that 42-21 win, putting the Mustangs in a tie with Temecula Prep for the top of their Manzanita League standings. Last year, in Division 14, St. Jeanne’s went winless, so this is quite the tale for one of the newer programs to hit the field.
Against CMI, Tyson Douglas (Jr) was 7 for 12 with 52 yards passing, 1 TD, 2 interceptions, and had one rushing TD with 24 yards on 7 carries. Douglas had 16 carries for 278 yards on the ground with 3 TDs, Michael Pittman (Jr) had 4 carries for 37 yards and a TD and Freshman Adrian Ortiz hauled in 3 receptions for 25 yards and a TD, while also chipping in with 2.5 sacks on defense. The Mustangs put up 429 yards total offense and had 3 two-point conversions (Ortiz, Shane Simpson and Waite). Kenny Davis (Sr) led the defense with 9 tackles and had a fumble recovery while Julian brought back an interception for 50 yards in a game that saw 8 total sacks.
This week the Mustangs will take on Temecula Prep, who will rely heavily on their past week Player of the Game Israel Pirschel, QB J’sun Villalobos, Bailey Lebrun (kicker) and Jayden Scott. Also, keep an eye on Temilade Kosoko with his 70 rushing yards per game, as well as Wyatt Lynch who makes catches on both sides of the line, hauling in 3 TDs and 3 interceptions on the season thus far.
The Santa Rosa Academy Rangers and Maranatha Minutemen sit on top of the Cottonwood League standings. Both are undefeated, though Maranatha does have one tie. Last week, Santa Rosa Academy kept their foot on the gas pedal rolling over Desert Christian Academy by a score of 30-12. The Rangers are being led by running back Justin York with 140 yards rushing per game, who also has 19 TDs under his belt this season. Defensively for Santa Rosa, Nick Welty is averaging 9 tackles per game to lead the Rangers.
Our final notes of the week don’t come from the still undefeated Liberty Bison like the past few weeks have, but you should know that yes, after blowing out Citrus Hill 40-0, and that was at half time, they still have not lost. This week they will face San Jacinto, which should be their toughest match to date.
Finally, in a game that featured 1,347 yards of offense, Norco and Murrieta Valley broke the CIF Southern Section record for most points scored in a football game. The previous section record was 144, when Bloomington defeated Artesia 82-62 in a playoff game in 1994. The state record, according to Calhisports.com, which was verified by a local media outlet, is 165 points: Porterville beat Tulare 86-79 back in 2012. This past Friday night, the Cougars beat the Nighthawks, 77-76 (153 total points).
Rather than discuss the entirety of a game that saw a score almost every two and a half minutes during regulation time, a blocked Nighthawk PAT would be what sent the game to overtime. Norco (5-2, 2-0) won the coin toss in overtime and trusted their defense to start the extra period, but Murrieta Valley (5-2 1-1) found the end zone quickly in overtime. Bear Bachmeier completed a 23-yard pass to brother Tiger, and  later scored on a 1-yard run. Nathan Davila kicked the extra point to put the Nighthawks up a full score.
With Norco’s turn to look to their offense, a scoring drive led to running back Kalani Kaleiwahea powering his way into the endzone for a game winning two-point conversion. Cougar QB Tyler Dudden completed 19 of 28 passes for 285 yards with seven touchdown passes and ran for 174 yards on 17 carries. Grant Gray caught four of those TD tosses from Dudden, finishing with six receptions for 133 yards.
Bear Bachmeier carried the weight of the game on his shoulders, completing 25 of 30 passes for 397 yards and two touchdowns while also running for 147 yards and five touchdowns on 10 carries. Asa Chatman ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns, and he also brought in six catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. Tiger Bachmeier had seven catches for 122 yards and a touchdown.
Other Week Seven wins came from Temescal Canyon, Paloma Valley, Murrieta Mesa, Cornerstone Christian, Chaparral, Great Oak, Cal. Lutheran and Linfield Christian, as well as schools from just outside this year’s sports coverage area with Hemet, West Valley and San Jacinto all prevailing last week.
*For the 2022-2023 prep sports season, the Valley News Sports Department will have photographers and game reports for 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). Scores and schedules may be posted for other area schools, but full coverage cannot be guaranteed.
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.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at jp@reedermedia.com.
