Broach, Tello find themselves on opposite sidelines Friday

Kraig Broach's Heritage High football team will play rival Paloma Valley, coached by former Heritage assistant Tom Tello (inset). Photo by Kristi Jo Aguirre

Heritage High School football coach Kraig Broach is 7-0 against Paloma Valley High School heading into Friday's latest meeting between the two schools -- but his right-hand man has never been standing on the other sideline before.

Tom Tello is now head coach at crosstown rival Paloma Valley, but it's been less than a year since he stood alongside Broach as Heritage's defensive coordinator. For 10 years, Tello worked under and learned from Heritage's head coach. Friday night, Broach will coach against a counterpart with whom he is very familiar.

Both Broach and Tello acknowledged on Sunday that they will be "lifelong friends" no matter what the circumstances. Each is also well aware of the significance of Friday's Menifee Bowl, which annually pits the city's rival teams against each other.

Yet each stressed the importance of focusing on just one thing this week -- the chance to win one more football game for the Sunbelt League championship.

"Like I think I've told you before, that stuff will not be talked about at practice," Broach said, referring to the Menifee Bowl hype. "That's for everyone on the outside. It's an awesome deal for the community, but for us, we're playing for the league championship. That's as big as the game needs to be."

And what about facing Tello, who stood alongside Broach for so many years?

"Watching them on film and knowing what he has done as head coach there ... I've seen the rapid improvement they've made over the course of the season," Broach said. "To be honest, that's kind of scary to me. That's his defense he ran with us for a number of years, and I do think he has added his own things to make them so good."

Under Broach, the Patriots have done the same thing they've done the last several years. Broach built this team from the ground up, taking the controls as the school's first head coach when the school opened in 2007. Since joining the Sunbelt League in 2010, Heritage is 39-0 in league play.

In addition to being 4-0 in league play this year, Heritage is 8-1 overall, its only loss coming Sept. 22 in a 34-21 loss at Orange Lutheran. Paloma Valley, also 4-0 in league, hasn't lost since Tello's first game as head coach, 44-34 to Cajon on Aug. 25.

Certainly, the ingredients are there for the hype that will come this week. But like Broach, Tello says all the talk on the practice field will be about the mechanics of being sucessful.

"The whole season, we've just been taking it week by week," Tello said. "I know that's kind of cliché, but all we've tried to do is focus on the opportunity we have each game. We've been really fortunate to win every week, and now we have a chance to win league.

"We won't even talk about that other stuff. We've gotten to Week 10 with a chance to play for the league title. And it just so happens that Week 10 is against Heritage."

It may have been Tello's experience gained at Heritage that helped him handle the transition to the crosstown rival so well. He was hired in the middle of spring practice to replace Bert Esposito, who was relieved of his duties in a surprise move. Esposito had led the Wildcats to a 9-0 record before losing to Heritage in the Menifee Bowl last season, then losing in the first round of the playoffs.

Enter Tello, who had to gain acceptance in a hurry from the players.

"Overall, it's been a really positive experience," Tello said. "The players bought in early. I think the seniors buying into the program made a huge difference. I was hired so late in the process that it was a challenge, but I have a super supportive administrative staff."

Tello said the decision by offensive coordinator Juan Merida to remain on staff also was a positive factor in the transition.

Broach said he knew from the moment Tello was hired by Paloma Valley that the Wildcats would be in good hands.

"When the opening came up, I thought of him right away," Broach said. "He communicates so well with the kids, I knew they were going to love playing for him."

"Coming to Paloma Valley, I knew I had to be myself," Tello said. "I learned a ton from Kraig. I brought some of that stuff with me, along with other things I've wanted to do."

No matter the outcome, the Broach-Tello relationship adds another dimension to a rivalry folks will be talking about all week.