Maddox, Moore, Nolan lead Paloma to victory, 42-18

Running back Corey Maddox picks up yardage in Paloma Valley's victory Friday night at Corona. Photo by Kristi Jo Aguirre

By Daniel Millhouse

When you look at the stats of a game and see that a team had possession of the ball for under 18 minutes the entire game, including less than five minutes of possession time in the first half, you’d expect that your team had a rough game. Instead, Paloma Valley High School defeated the Panthers of Corona High Friday night, 42-18.

In what felt like a track meet, the Wildcats constantly put up big gains nearly every time they had the ball. Notable performances on the offensive side of the ball included Corey Maddox’s 3 touchdowns while catching 3 passes for 136 yards and rushing for 96 more; Blake Moore’s 3 receptions for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns; and quarterback Chance Nolan’s 8-for-14 passing performance for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns.

On Paloma Valley’s first possession of the game, it took less than two minutes for the Wildcats to throw 7 points on the board when Nolan hit Maddox with a pass as he streaked up the right sideline for a 57-yard touchdown.

"We actually felt like we were going to have to grind it out a little bit, here and there. We took what they gave (us) and our guys are pretty good at doing that," Paloma Valley coach Bert Esposito said when asked how he thought the game would go before it started.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Maddox would find himself in the end zone. He scored a total of three touchdowns, including two by ground and one in the air.

Wildcats defenders take down Corona receiver Wyatt Boyer during Friday night's game. Photo by Kristi Jo Aguirre

The Paloma Valley defense had its moments, too. The Wildcats' front seven kept Corona frustrated, holding the Panthers to a total of 89 rushing yards. This from a team that averaged 175 yards rushing per game before facing the Wildcats.

Lineman Kanishka Lokusoorlya, Chase Ryther, and birthday boy Chris Portman each had a sack to keep Corona’s quarterback, Moses Deanda, from ever being able to set his feet.

There was a single moment in the start of the second quarter in which the hometown Corona fans collectively appeared to have their energy sapped right out of them for the rest of the game.

After Corona kicker John Cross hit a 27-yard field goal for the Panthers with a little over 10 minutes left, it took only 15 seconds for Paloma Valley to strike back. Kick returner Andre Kirkpatrick returned the ball 91 yards to put the Wildcats up 21-6.

On Paloma Valley’s next possession, it scored on the first play of the drive when Nolan hit Moore for a 67-yard touchdown halfway through the second quarter to put the Wildcats up 28-6.

Paloma Valley’s defense stopped the Panthers again, but were fortunate enough to get the ball back after the ball bounced out of Kirkpatrick’s hand while returning the punt. The Panthers recovered the ball on the Wildcats’ 21-yard line.

The defense once again appeared to stop Corona, but on fourth-and-five and the ball on the 16, Corona went for it. Deanda successfully hit Jeremiah Boatner for a 15-yard pass to take the Panthers to the 1-yard line. Running back Anthony Wallander scored on the next play to put the score at 28-12 after the Panthers failed to complete the 2-point conversion.

The Wildcats continued their dominance in the second half.

The defense shut out Corona in the third, while Maddox scored his second rushing touchdown of the game and Moore scored on a 71-yard touchdown pass from Nolan with 44 seconds left in the quarter.

Their dominance continued into the fourth quarter as well.

With Corona trying to come back, Paloma Valley junior Phil Mills picked off a Deanda pass at the Wildcats’ own 3-yard line. An all-league defensive back last season, this was Mills' first high school career interception. Excited, Mills yelled out, "I got one! I got one!" as he returned to the sideline after his interception.

On the very next Corona drive, Deanda was drilled by defensive lineman Titas Thomas. Deanda managed to get rid of the ball while going down, but the ball floated high in the air before it found its way into defensive back Eric Lubic’s hands.

Corona did score one more time with 2:21 left in the game when Deanda dodged a sack and hit an open Wallander. The receiver then skipped past a couple of Paloma Valley defenders and took the ball into the end zone for a 71-yard touchdown reception. This was the final score of the night after the Panthers failed to score on the two-point conversion again, leaving the score at 42-18.

"Everyone’s sleeping on Paloma," Mills said after the game. "We came out hard and we play every team the same way. We just came out hard. On defense we just have to do our job."

"We were expecting this to be the best team we played so far this season, but we had a hard week of practice," Maddox said. "We came back from last week where we didn’t do as much as we wanted to. Just turned out to be in our favor."

Mills and Damian Torres led the defense with 9 tackles, followed by linebacker Amir Hasin, who had 7 tackles.

Paloma Valley will return home next week for its final nonleague game to face off against the Golden Bears of Temecula Valley (0-3).

"I feel confident in this team," Hasin answered when asked his about his feelings about his team’s chances going into league play soon. "We've got a lot of depth defensively. On both sides of the ball, we’re just doing great this year. I feel we’re going to give (the) league a good run this year."

When asked the same question, Esposito said, "You’re never where you think you need to be, but we’re getting better every week and we’re playing pretty well defensively. A couple of breakdowns on plays where we weren’t thinking right. We’re extending a lot of their drives, third down, fourth-down issues, but we could fix those things. We’re heading in the right direction."

Before the game kicks off next week, members of the NJROTC Battalion will display the Big Flag that is displayed every year on the field of the Holiday Bowl college football game. The Big Flag has also made appearances at Super Bowls and World Series games. This will be the only time it will be displayed at a Paloma Valley game this season. Last year it was displayed for the Wildcats game that was on Sept 11.

Paloma Valley's Andrew Franco (88) and Corona's Joshua Johnson fight for a ball that falls incomplete Friday night, Photo by Kristi Jo Aguirre