Three weeks of high school football have allowed teams to settle in to the workload that a new school year brings about. While it is still early in the season, the outlook on the end of the season remains the same, “win, or go home.” While there have been three weeks of competition, universally the schedule notes this past week as Week Two of the prep football season due to Zero Week games. The action took place starting Thursday, Aug. 31, around the Southwest Riverside County region, with games concluding Saturday, Sep. 2. Scores, along with certain game notes for Week Two high school football games involving local teams inside our coverage area, were reported as follows:
THURSDAY 8/31
Nonleague
Arlington – 13, Lakeside – 7
Chaparral – 20, San Jacinto – 6
Game notes: The Pumas are already having to deal with injuries to some of their key players, specifically their running backs, but you would never know that with the ball in the hands of Jayce Venable, a junior who saw most of his high school play as a defensive back prior to this season. After rushing for 95 yards on 5 carries last week, the rookie RB ran for 247 yards on 33 carries, helping lead Chaparral to a 20-6 victory against San Jacinto. The Tigers were 13-3 last season and reached the state final, but also lost 35 seniors, so it may be an up and down year for San Jacinto, who put 60 points on the board last week. – JP Raineri, Sports Editor.
Vista del Lago – 19, Elsinore – 17
Game notes: It was an emotional game, which resulted in a defensive showdown between Elsinore and Vista del Lago. Senior quarterback Larry Joyce ran for the game-winning score with a little over two minutes remaining as Vista del Lago defeated the Tigers 19-17 in a back-and-forth nonleague game bout. Joyce completed 22 of 32 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown to rally from a 10-6 halftime deficit without leading receiver Keith Woods, who sustained a broken bone in his lower left leg that required surgery on Thursday night, which Vista del Lago coach Michael Touhy confirmed. Senior Fabian Bolanos led Vista del Lago with 14 receptions for 133 yards and a TD, as well as an interception in the final minute of the game to seal the win. Senior Caden Maxfield had 13 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown for Elsinore (1-2). – JP Raineri, Sports Editor.
Temecula Prep – 41, Hamilton – 0
Knight – 18, Heritage – 7
Liberty – 49, Hemet – 20
Tahquitz – 45, Rancho Mirage – 21
Valencia – 20, Murrieta Mesa – 14
FRIDAY 9/1
Nonleague
St. Joseph Academy – 52, Cal Lutheran – 12 (8-man)
Canyon Springs – 27, Citrus Hill – 21
Grace Brethren – 36, at Santa Rosa Academy – 34
Great Oak – 34, Fallbrook – 0
Game notes: Great Oak’s Jefferson Roberts rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries in the Wolfpack’s nonleague shutout over Fallbrook. QB Cole Vasquez passed for 135 yards and a touchdown and also ran in a touchdown. – Scott Padgett, Time Stood Still Photography
Linfield Christian – 53, Notre Dame – 0
Kaiser – 32, Paloma Valley – 13
Game notes: The first half was a nail biter that almost resulted in a 13-13 tie game going into the halftime break, but a Paloma Valpey missed field goal would help Kaiser take the momentum away when they scored with one minute left in the second quarter. The Cats running game would be enough to overcome Paloma Valley’s passing attack as Kaiser held the Wildcats scoreless in the second half to nab a 32-13 nonleague victory on their home turf. Paloma Valley senior Brady Nelson was 23-of-37 passing for 284 yards with one touchdown and one interception. – JP Raineri, Sports Editor.
Desert Hot Springs – 35, Perris – 27
Temecula Valley – 37, Temescal Canyon – 0
Vista Murrieta – 34, Orange Vista – 31
Game notes: Orange Vista added the Vista Murrieta Broncos to their nonleague matchup’s as a means to push up their strength of schedule, and a near win should help with their approach to the postseason. The near win came in the form of a Sebastian Stapleton 29-yard field goal, with 4 seconds remaining, that completed a late comeback to lift Vista Murrieta to a 34-31 victory.
That game-winning field goal ended a nine-play, 73-yard drive as sophomore quarterback Bryson Beaver hit A.J. Jones for a 33-yard gain to open the drive that also saw a roughing-the-passer penalty, a running into the kicker flag and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Orange Vista bench that put Stapleton within reach. Beaver finished with four touchdowns and 301 yards passing, completing 16 of 34 attempts. His 86-yard-long toss to Brody Guinn with 10:52 remaining in the fourth quarter gave the Broncos their first lead of the game at 31-28. Guinn caught four passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns. A.J. Jones caught five passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Orange Vista’s Sire Gaines, coming off an injury, rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Abdul-Aziz completed 25 of 29 passes for 322 yards and two touchdowns. Jesse Anderson was his target of choice, with eight receptions for 130 yards. Jasaeyvion Duffey-Cooper was his other go-to guy, hauling in six passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. Dionte West also had a 19-yard touchdown catch. – Action Captures Media Group
Rancho Christian – 14, West Valley – 13
Game notes: Rancho Christian held on to defeat West Valley 14-13 in a contest that saw both teams enter the game undefeated. The Eagles played just enough defense in the second half along with a little luck to top their Mustang neighbors to the east. A missed 2-point conversion and two failed fourth quarter field goal attempts (the last one blocked by Captain, Jacob Ziegler) gave the Eagles the victory. Rancho Christian has had their first 3-0 start since 2016, when they won the CIF Division 6AA state championship. Freshman QB Blake Nadler finished the game with 7 completions, a touchdown, and an interception. Receivers Kallai Patton (58 yards) and Jonathan Alexander both hauled in TD receptions with Alexander hitting Patton on a swing pass, and Nadler hitting Alexander later in the game. – David Canales, photographer
SATURDAY 9/2
Nonleague
Downey Calvary Chapel – 36, Cornerstone Christian – 24 (8-man)
Game notes: Despite the Crusaders loss, Devin Jarrett threw for 266 yards with three touchdowns going to Gabriel Chavez, who finished with eight receptions for 138 yards.
This season the Valley News Sports Department is also teaming up with Inland Sports and will be on the sidelines at as many games as we can be, but due to print space and manpower, it may be in more of a limited coverage area. If your team is not getting the coverage they deserve, please share photos and stats by utilizing the contact information at the end of this article.
*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? Want to leave a game note? Let us know if your school is inside our coverage area and would like to be mentioned.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
