Bouman, Offense Lead Paloma Valley to 34-21 Win

Paloma Valley defensive linemen get ready for the snap during Friday night's game at Temecula Valley High. Menifee 24/7 photos: Daniel Millhouse

By Daniel Millhouse

With a couple of minutes left in the game, for the second straight week, Paloma Valley High School had a touchdown called back by the referees on an offensive penalty. The difference this time was the Wildcats were already up by 13 points against the Temecula Valley Golden Bears and Demarco Prewitt’s 63-yard touchdown would have just been the icing on the cake.

The Golden Bears (3-1) were able to gain the ball back with 1:13 left on the clock, but they were shut down by Wildcats senior defensive back Blake Bouman (left), who deflected the ball away in the end zone to keep the final score at 34-21 on Friday, Sept. 25.

The Paloma Valley offensive players appeared to enter the game more focused than they were last week against the Tustin Tillers, and it showed. Providing a balanced attack between the running and passing games, Paloma Valley (3-2) used several home run plays that put them up 28-7 by halftime.

"Practice"” senior running back Khayrii Joyner said about his team’s offensive mindset. "Practice like we’re supposed to for a Friday night game. Football is not an individual sport. It’s a team effort and a team sport. We just had to focus in on practice and make something happen on Friday night."

In the first quarter, the Wildcats struck twice for two touchdowns. The first came on a 20-yard run to the left by Joyner, who went untouched for the final 15 yards of the run. The second touchdown came with 12 seconds left in the quarter, when quarterback Lucas Opp hit senior wide receiver Cameron Whatley in the corner of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown pass.

After being stopped on three straight possessions, the Golden Bears finally score halfway through the second quarter when senior quarterback Vincent Bowes hit junior Shane Oberhuber for a 23-yard touchdown, putting the score at 14-7.

Paloma Valley answered with a big 38-yard run by Joyner that eventually led to a 5-yard touchdown by Prewitt.

Almost mirroring what they did in the first quarter, the Wildcats scored again with 12 seconds left in the second quarter when sophomore quarterback Chance Nolan hit Whatley on a cross pass that he finished off by spinning out of the hands of a defensive back and taking it in for a touchdown.

"It felt awesome," Whatley said about scoring two touchdowns. "I’m not going to lie, it felt really awesome."

After a long halftime and being down 28-7, the Golden Bears didn’t waste time scoring during their first possession of the second half. They scored on a 73-yard rushing touchdown one minute into the third quarter, cutting the Wildcats' lead in half.

"It’s just more motivation to get the job done even better," Joyner said about Temecula Valley’s quick score to start the second half. "We had to group in as one. When they scored that, we knew it was grind time. We had to keep pushing."

It didn’t take long for Paloma Valley to answer. With 8:44 left in the third quarter on fourth down and one, despite nine defenders lined up at the scrimmage, Prewitt (right) broke free and ran the ball for a 42-yard touchdown. After a missed point after attempt, the Wildcats were up 34-7. This would be the last time they would score for the game.

For the rest of the game, the Wildcats' defense dominated. Halfway through the third quarter, while trying to score again, Bowes was picked off in the end zone by Bouman for the first of his first two interceptions. Bouman’s second interception came off of Temecula Valley’s other quarterback, Oberhuber, in the middle of the fourth quarter, when Oberhuber tried to force a pass to his receiver at the Paloma Valley 11-yard line.

"That’s Bouman," joked Wildcats coach Bert Esposito. "We expect that out of him all the time. He’s a five-point-five thousand GPA kid, he’s very smart, and he’s going to be an orthopedic surgeon someday, and we basically just say, ‘Bouman, go do your thing,’ and he knows what to do."

The only other score in the game came with 49 seconds left in the third quarter, when Bowes ran in a 20-yard touchdown to put the score at 34-21.

“We had a pretty decent game plan to do what we needed to do," said Esposito about his opponent. "Temecula always fights hard and I’ll give them that. We got a little winded defensively in the second half, and that’s a credit to them. They did a good job."

Standout Paloma Valley performances on offense include Prewitt’s 17 runs for 116 yards and two touchdowns; Joyner’s 13 runs for 98 yards and one touchdown; and Whatley’s 5 receptions for 132 yards receiving with 2 touchdowns. On defense, the star Wildcats included Bouman’s 2 interceptions and 2 pass deflections; and 7 tackles by senior linebacker Nick Rico.

Temecula’s standout player was junior running back Lika Palmer, who ran the ball 27 times for 161 yards rushing.

Next week is a bye week for Paloma Valley. The Wildcats will resume play in their league opener at Lakeside High School (3-2) on Oct. 9.

Khayrii Joyner had a big game for the Wildcats, running for 98 yards and a touchdown.