Paloma Valley Wins Adidas Passing Tournament

Members of the Paloma Valley High School football team celebrate the championship of the Adidas 7 on 7 Tournament title. Photos courtesy of Bert Esposito

The Paloma Valley High School football team added to its reputation as a high-powered offense recently by winning the first-ever Adidas California State 7 on 7 Passing Tournament championship.

The victory was especially satisfying for Wildcats coach Bert Esposito, who was instrumental in bringing the Adidas tournament to California. Already a success in the eastern United States, the Adidas passing tournament provides a showcase for high school teams before their players scatter for summer and various club football programs.

"About a year and a half ago, I talked to Adidas about coming to California," said Esposito, who serves as president of the Southern California Football Coaches Association. "We would rather promote the high school teams than have it all be club teams. You've got all these sharks out there trying to get kids in the clubs and high school coaches really can't do anything about it. This gives us an outlet."

The tournament began for the Wildcats May 28 in Redondo Beach, where they played three games in pool play and advanced to bracket play against southern division teams. On Monday, they moved on to play teams from the northern division, which included Salesian, Crenshaw and schools the Wildcats don't normally see.

Defeating Salesian in the finals, Paloma Valley finished the tournament 9-0 behind the passing of quarterback Chance Nolan and the play of Seth Carvalo, Jacob Salas, Blake Moore and Andrew Franco.

"I felt going in like we would at least get to the second day, but when you start playing teams like Salesian and Crenshaw -- those are some good football teams," Esposito said.

"I feel our offense next season will be better than last year's."

Last season, the Wildcats finished 7-4 overall behind the leadership of Nolan, who passed for 2,076 yards and 23 touchdowns as a sophomore.