Paloma Valley Wins Final Game to Earn Playoff Spot

Tonight's game was a must win for both teams to move on to the CIF playoffs. With everything on the line, the Wildcats of Paloma Valley (6-4, 3-2) clawed their way to victory against the Temescal Canyon (3-7, 2-3), winning by a score of 42-35.

Both teams came into the game with high intensity and in the first half, it looked like the game would be a shootout. For every score Paloma Valley had, the Titans of Temescal Canyon were able to counter with a score of their own.

Senior Jake Newton (#8, pictured above) took most of the snaps in the game from the quarterback position for the Wildcats, completing 21 passes on 27 attempts for 238 yards passing and 3 touchdown passes.

When asked about starting Newton at quarterback this game, Coach Bert Esposito said, "We were thinking at least two drives depending on how we do and see what they were doing. The way they were defending us, they only had five in the box and our line was doing a good job and we wanted to see how long we could ride this."

The regular starting quarterback for Paloma Valley, junior Pohaku Kaheaku-Paiva actually turned out to be the beneficiary to Newton's success. Kaheaku-Paiva, who played wide receiver most of the night, catching 9 of Newton's passes for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed the ball 8 times for 49 yards and a rushing touchdown and threw for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats struck first in the game when junior running back Khayrii Joyner scored on a 12-yard run in the first 2 minutes of the game, putting Paloma Valley up 7-0.

Joyner stepped into the starting running back role, in place of the injured Demarco Prewitt. Joyner's performance was spectacular, rushing the ball 27 times for 187 yards.

Within 90 seconds, Temescal Canyon's senior running back Michael Erim scored on a 45-yard run of his own, tying the game up at 7.

Only 77 seconds later, on a play action to Joyner, Newton threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Kaheaku-Paiva to put Paloma Valley back up 14-7, with 7:07 left in the first quarter.

Once again, not waiting long to score, Titans' junior Artie Barrera returned the kickoff 78-yards for a touchdown, tying the game back up. at 14.

Not to be outdone on the Wildcats' Senior Night, Newton tossed the ball to fellow senior Izaiah Cameron (left) for an 8-yard touchdown, putting Paloma Valley up 21-14 at the end of the first quarter.

Looking to pull away, with 7:07 left in the second quarter, Newtown threw his second touchdown pass to Kaheaku-Paiva for 14-yards, putting Paloma Valley up 28-14

The Titans' cut down the lead before halftime, when junior quarterback Justin Gomez threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Josh Bess, putting the score at 28-21 at the end of the first half.

Despite the shootout that occurred in the first half, the third quarter turned out to be fairly quiet. Junior linebacker Mose Herrera was able to take the ball away from the Titans when Gomez fumbled the ball at the snap, with 7:31 left in the third quarter.

After stopping Paloma Valley from taking advantage of the turnover, Temescal Canyon's Gomez scored on a 1-yard run, to tie the game up with 6 seconds left in the third quarter, tying the score at 28, with one quarter left to go and the season on the line.

Paloma Valley came back strong, pounding the ball through the exhausted Titans' defensive line. Led downfield by Joyner, the Wildcats found themselves in a fourth down and 1 situation on the Titans' own 3-yard line. With 9:04 left in the game, Kaheaku-Paiva scored his third touchdown of the game, this time from the ground on a quarterback keeper, putting Paloma Valley back up 35-28.

With a little over 6 minutes left, Temescal Canyon's Gomez wouldn't quit. Avoiding the sack, he scrambled away from approaching lineman and threw the ball into the end zone, finding senior wide receiver Brad Westwood for a 21-yard touchdown, tying the game back up at 35 a piece.

Not to be outdone, with Kaheaku-Paiva in at quarterback, he avoided the rush himself and hit senior wide receiver David Hamilton in the back of the end zone on a 27-yard pass 4:18 left in the game, giving the Wildcats a seven point advantage.

Feeling the pressure, Temescal Canyon abandoned the run game altogether, leaving out their star running back Michael Erim from being a factor on their last drive.

Two minutes left in the game, Justin Gomez rolled to his right, and tried to force the ball into his receiver. The pass was caught on the Wildcats' 33-yard line, but by Paloma Valley's senior defensive back Ruben Colon, for his third interception of the season and ending Temescal Canyon's season and playoff aspirations.

"With that last interception, we had been playing cover four and right at the last minute, I said 'Jump into two' and he came up and pressed it and he was right there," Coach Esposito said about Colon's interception.

Other players who played well included senior linebacker Jose Cruz, who led the team with 9 tackles and had a sack in the third quarter and wide senior wide receiver David Hamilton who caught 6 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown.

With the win, Paloma Valley took the third and final playoff spot in the Sunbelt League.

"It's not what we had hoped for," Coach Esposito said of his team's performance this season. "A lot of things happened. We talked before the season, you know at the end of a season your team could be totally different than it is in the beginning. People get hurt. Things happen. You just don't know. It's a survival thing and you hope you have enough depth that you can continue. We're happy with what we've accomplished."

It has yet to be determined yet who Paloma Valley will play in the first round of the playoffs. All that is known is that they'll be on the road. Check back with Menifee 24/7 for an announcement of who the Wildcats will play next week in the CIF playoffs.

Paloma Valley's defense works hard to bring down the Titan's Michael Erim (#22)

Paloma Valley waits to take the field

Newton fakes the handoff to Khayrii Joyner



Coach Esposito congratulates his team on a well earned victory