Paloma puts one away early against Lakeside, 71-0

Paloma Valley running back Gary Carney picks up yardage in the Wildcats' win Friday night. Photo by Kristi Jo Aguirre

By Daniel Millhouse

There was a full moon in the air on Homecoming night for the Paloma Valley Wildcats Friday, creating the perfect setting for their dominating 71-0 victory over Lakeside.

Led by their defense, now newly dubbed as the "Maroon Mafia", the Wildcats (7-0, 2-0) allowed only 1 yard in total offense to the Lancers (5-2, 0-2) for the entire game.

"Well, what I really think hurt them is not having (Adrian) Burt. He’s obviously a lot of their offense so they weren’t able to hold onto the ball very much," Paloma Valley coach Bert Esposito said after the game.

Without their star player and allowing 31 points in just the first quarter alone, the Lancers appeared to be deflated before the second quarter even started. The Lakeside offense was never able to get anything going and their defense couldn’t stop the quick strikes by the Wildcats.

The Paloma Valley defense was able to put pressure on the Lancers’ quarterbacks multiple times, accumulating 5 sacks along the way and never allowing them to develop much of an air attack. Linemen Maleek Baranauskas (right) and Damian Torres each racked up 2 sacks, and Titus Young pitched in with one of his own as well.

"It’s all about execution," Young said about the Paloma Valley defense. "We did our job and we practiced what we had to do. We came out and executed. It’s football. We did what we had to do."

Attempting to catch up a little in the second quarter, Lancers quarterback Seth Armstrong was drilled just as he released the ball. It floated into cornerback Lanell Harrell’s hands and he brought it all the way back to the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown return.

You could also say the Paloma Valley offense pitched in as well. Not only did the Wildcats score 71 points, but they did so all in the first half of the game.

Receiver Blake Moore led his team in offense, catching 6 passes for 131 yards, scoring 3 touchdowns along the way.

Being modest, Moore stated after the game, "When my number gets called, I just do the job."

As usual, Corey Maddox (right) had a big night, running the ball for 145 yards on only 9 carries, including 4 touchdowns, putting his season total at 18.

Not to be outdone, the special teams pitched in. Kicker Isaias Valera put one through the uprights from 31 yards out and Steven Bradshaw recovered a blocked punt by Baranauskas, returning it 20 yards for touchdown.

Other notable performances for Paloma Valley include Gary Carney, who ran the ball 6 times for 48 yards and returned 3 punts for 74 yards; Terrell Medina, who racked up 4 tackles resulting in a loss of 13 yards; and 3 tackles made by Phil Mills for a total of 9 yards lost.

After the game, Bradshaw was asked where the Maroon Mafia nickname originated from.

"He (the stadium announcer) contacted me and asked for a name for our team and the defense signed off on the ‘mafia,'" said Bradshaw. "It suits us. It suits our team. Sounds good."

Next week the Wildcats will hit the road and travel to Wildomar to face off against the Tigers of Elsinore High School (5-2, 1-1). The Tigers will put the Maroon Mafia to work with their duo of senior running backs, Anthony Reyes and Brandon Payne.

Asked if Homecoming put extra pressure on his players to perform well this week, Esposito said, "Our whole goal is get ready every week the same way, play the same every week, and keep getting better. We really talk about that and concentrate on that."

Paloma Valley coach Bert Esposito addresses the team after Friday's game. Photo by Kristi Jo Aguirre