For some prep football teams, the first five games of the regular season mean taking a beating in order to get ready for league action. For other teams, it means putting on a show to demonstrate how good you think you are. And for many, it means keeping up with the pack. If there was money to put down, it’s probably wise to put it on the team that played those hard opponents, the teams that took a whooping, or hung until the final whistle in order to challenge themselves to be better.
While a few local teams have already started their league venture, Week Six will bring about the dogfight to get to the playoffs. With that said, let’s not forget about the Week Five action that took place from Thursday, Sept. 21, around the southwest Riverside County region, with games concluding Saturday, Sept. 23. Scores, along with certain game notes for Week Five high school football games involving local teams inside our coverage area, were reported as follows:
FRIDAY 9/22
Cottonwood League
Maranatha (5-1) – 42, Hamilton (0-6) – 6
Manzanita League
Nuview Bridge (1-4) – 70, St. Jeanne de Lestonnac (1-3, 0-2) – 64
Game notes: These two teams, in the middle of dismal seasons, competed in one of the highest scoring games in Inland history as Nuview Bridge put up 576 rushing yards to complete the victory. The 134 combined points comes in at fourth most in a game involving at least one Inland team. Franky Rodriguez led the way with 254 yards and four scores on 26 carries. Joshua Rodriguez finished with 203 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, and Luis Castillo had 112 yards and two more scores for the Knights (1-4). Josh Stahl led the way for St. Jeanne de Lestonnac (1-3), passing for 407 yards and six touchdowns and rushing for another 192 yards and two scores. Adrian Ortiz had 13 catches for 243 yards and four scores.
Nonleague
Cal Lutheran (3-2) – 44, San Diego Jewish Academy (1-1) – 36
Cornerstone Christian (4-1) – 55, PAL Academy (1-4) – 0
Game notes: In another great outing, Cornerstone’s Devin Jarrett tossed four touchdown passes and rushed in for another TD as he led the Crusaders (4-1) over PAL. Gabriel Chavez caught two touchdown passes and also scored on a run.
Laguna Beach (4-1) – 76, Lakeside (0-6) – 12
Murrieta Valley (4-1) – 30, San Clemente (5-1) – 28
Game notes: The ever so exciting San Clemente and Murrieta Valley rivalry took place last week, which has been bringing the excitement ever since the two teams met in the CIF-SS Division 2 final in 2016. It was that game where the Tritons secured their first section title with a 45-35 win and went on to claim a state championship. That was also the game that started putting Murrieta Valley on the map. This year’s matchup marked the sixth meeting since that section final, and second one-point margin in the past three seasons. was a battle all the way through the final minutes, which is when Nighthawk RB Dorian Hoze scored on a 1-yard run with a little over a minute left in the fourth quarter.
Living in the moment, quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who threw two touchdowns and rushed for another, then ran in the 2-point conversion to lift Murrieta Valley to a remarkable 39-38 victory. Hoze took over for an injured Asa Chatman and rushed for 195 yards and two scores on 32 carries. Murrieta Valley won the yardage total on the night with 418 yards to San Clemente’s 395 yards as neither team committed a turnover. Despite the loss, San Clemente still leads the recent series 4-3.
San Jacinto (2-3) – 45, Jurupa Hills (1-4) – 27
Game notes: San Jacinto’s Malachi Brown ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries as the Tigers (2-3) took out Jurupa Hills. QB Sebastian Wood tossed a pair of touchdown passes, one of those going to Dillon Gresham (101 receiving yards), who also returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Orange Vista (2-3) – 48, Paloma Valley (3-3) – 28
Game notes: Orange Vista snapped a three-game losing streak, but Paloma Valley didn’t let things come easy. Despite the Wildcats offense only rushing for 13 yards on 23 attempts, Brady Nelson put on a show that kept Paloma Valley in the game. Nelson completed 23 of 40 attempts for 383 yards and three touchdowns, but also got sacked five times. Running back Keegan Kelly couldn’t find his ground game but made up for it with six catches for 106 yards. Jayden Epps collected three passes for 92 yards and a touchdown, and Arthur Clemons caught four passes for 90 yards and a score.
As for Orange Vista, sophomore quarterback Khalil Abdul-Aziz completed 14 of 20 passes without an interception for 256 yards and three touchdowns. Jasaevion Duffey-Cooper’s two catches resulted in touchdowns, and Dionte West also had a long catch for a score. Back from an injury, running back Sire Gaines rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries for Orange Vista, but it was the defensive front, led by Northern Arizona commit Corey Johnson, which kept the Coyotes on the prowl.
Rancho Cucamonga (6-0) – 34, Vista Murrieta (4-1) – 24
Game notes: In a battle of the undefeated, Vista Murrieta (4-1) struggled to move the ball through the air in the first half, which also gave way to Emiliano Villareal lighting up the Bronco defense for 296 yards and two touchdowns at the end of the night, which ultimately led the Cougars to a 34-24 victory.
A huge highlight for Vista Murrieta was their special teams as they recovered two botched punts and not only had a blocked field goal, but also blocked an extra-point attempt and a punt. Malichi Sayles ran for 80 yards and scored two touchdowns to help the Broncos keep the game close.
Temescal Canyon (3-2) – 21, Vista (0-6) – 0
Game notes: Temescal Canyon’s Luis Alvis ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries to lead the Titans (3-2) over a winless Vista team. Noah Morgan added 93 yards and had a rushing touchdown.
SATURDAY 9/23
Manzanita League
Temecula Prep (2-3) – 35, San Jacinto Valley Academy (0-4) – 14
*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.
