Heritage at Home in Playoff Opener; Paloma at Fontana Summit

The Sunbelt League champion Heritage High School Patriots will open the CIF Southern Section Central Division playoffs tonight at 7 with a home game against Palm Desert.

The Patriots will take a 9-1 record into the game against a Palm Desert team that struggled to make the playoffs with a 3-7 record, including one loss by forfeit. The Aztecs' record may be deceiving, however. They scored 73-0 and 63-0 wins over Coachella Valley and Indio before finishing the regular season with a 63-40 loss to La Quinta.

Heritage is coming off a big win over Elsinore for the league title in which Limihai Hifo rushed for 195 yards and three touchdowns. Sione Takitaki added 131 yards rushing for the Patriots.

Meanwhile, Paloma Valley will take its high-scoring offense to Fontana Miller High School for a 7 p.m. playoff opener against Summit High. The Wildcats secured an at-large playoff berth with a 56-7 rout of Lakeside last week.

Paloma Valley's offense is led by quarterback Brent Boehm (1,921 yards and 19 touchdowns passing) and running back David Solis (1,405 yards, 17 touchdowns).