Esposito returns to Paloma football sidelines Friday night

With Bert Esposito on the sidelines, Temecula Valley's football team has started the season with a 3-1 record. Photos courtesy of Kelli Esposito

Friday night's football game will be a homecoming of sorts for Bert Esposito -- although in a sense, he never really left.

Esposito, who coached the Paloma Valley High School football team from 2004-16, will return to the Wildcats stadium Friday night as coach of Temecula Valley High. In taking over a team that was 0-10 last year, Esposito has led the Golden Bears to a 3-1 record this season.

Even though he is now coaching at another high school, Esposito remains on the Paloma Valley faculty as a PE teacher. Needless to say, he will have friends on both sidelines when Temecula Valley takes on the 2-2 Wildcats in a 7 p.m. nonleague game.

"I teach freshman PE and I never even see the Paloma football players, so it's not a big deal," Esposito said about his connection to both sides.

What is a big deal is the job Esposito has done with the Golden Bears, who had lost 16 straight games dating back to 2016 when he took over after getting the job last December. Starting the season with a 35-14 victory over Elsinore in their season opener, the Golden Bears followed it up with a 37-7 win over West Valley and a 42-21 win over Norte Vista. Their first loss of the season came last week, 41-28 to San Jacinto, in a game quarterback Easton Gibbs left early after taking a hard hit.

"Winning the first game against Elsinore was huge," Esposito said. "Otherwise, it's 'here we go again.' We played a poor first half (a 7-7 tie), but I told our coaches not to go into the locker room yelling at them. We just said, 'We couldn't play any worse than we did and we're not losing.'

"We came right out and gave up a touchdown and we're down 14-7. But then we made a couple plays and we end up scoring 28 straight points."

Gibbs has been the star of the offense, passing for 533 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushing for 220 yards and 3 TDs.

"We didn't have a quarterback, so we had to make one," Esposito said. "I know Easton is going to Wyoming as a defensive player, but he's such a good athlete, we needed him to play quarterback. He has been outstanding."

Gibbs isn't the only productive player on the team, however. Esposito gives credit to running backs Brody Hughes and Logan Moreno for their contributions. On defense, he said juniors Jay Max Jacobsen, Josh Hilton and Anson Pulsipher have played key roles in the team's success.

Esposito said there is no secret to the team's turnaround. It is simply a matter of hard work, he said.

"I knew we had to change the culture," Esposito said. "We brought in some things I have always done -- 6:30 a.m. workouts, after school workouts. We weeded out the kids who wanted nothing to do with that. The kids who stayed were great. They said, 'We want to win. Show us what we need to do.' "

Esposito's offensive coordinator is Juan Merida, also a faculty member at Paloma and his former offensive coordinator with the Wildcats. That has been a benefit as well.

When asked about the opposing Wildcats in Friday's game, Esposito responded with two words.

"Mason Carvalho," he said about Paloma Valley's 5-foot-5, 150-pound quarterback and running back. "Pound for pound, he's the best football player I've ever coached. Their offense runs around him. It will be a tough match-up for us."

Paloma Valley started the season with a 48-7 loss at Cajon, then bounced back with a 20-0 win over ML King. After losing 28-21 at Knight High in Palmdale, the Wildcats won their home opener over JW North last week, 47-32.

Bert Esposito and his coaching staff addresses the players after a 37-7 win over West Valley Aug. 31.