Paloma beats Valley View, appears headed for playoffs

Junior placekicker Joel Rayas watches his kick go through the uprights for a winning 32-yard field goal for Paloma Valley. Photos by Jen Hauser

It appears that the Paloma Valley High football team will be headed for the CIF Southern Section playoffs after a dramatic 24-21 victory over Valley View Friday afternoon in the team's regular-season finale.

It won't be official until CIF playoff first-round pairings are announced Sunday afternoon, but Paloma Valley coach Tom Tello said today he is optimistic the Wildcats (4-6 overall) will be headed to the postseason next week.

"Unofficially, we should be in," said Tello, factoring in the number of teams in the division and the teams with sub-.500 records expected to qualify. "The whole group is really excited. We knew going into the game that if we wanted to qualify for the playoffs, we needed to win."

Friday's game -- played in the afternoon because of a shortage of referees in the evening -- came down to a 32-yard field goal by junior Joel Rayas with 9 seconds remaining to break a 21-21 tie. The teams had traded touchdowns the entire game and the victory was a sweet one for the Wildcats, who had lost their first two Ivy League games to Heritage and Rancho Verde.

"It definitely lets us head to the playoffs on a high note," Tello said. "We've been playing decent football since the second half of the Arlington game (a 36-27 win Oct. 11). We've just run into some really good programs since then."

Quarterback Blake Hauser led the way for the Wildcats on the ground and through the air. He rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown and passed for 120 yards, all to Cody Cerasaro. One of those passes covered 12 yards for a touchdown. Kole Newton also ran 2 yards for a TD.

Paloma Valley defensive back Jack O'Brien forced a Valley View fumble that led to Paloma's first touchdown. The teams went back and forth in scoring until, with the score tied at 21-21 in the fourth quarter, Paloma Valley was called for a penalty and was forced to punt from its own end zone.

The Wildcat defense responded, forcing a three-and-out from the Valley View offense to get the ball back via punt on their own 20-yard line with 1:11 left in the game.

"The only way we could figure out to get downfield was to run 10 or 12 yards at a time, chip away at it and get out of bounds," Tello said. "Then they were called for a pass interference on a throw to Cody, which put us in position for the field goal."

Newton had a couple big gains during the drive as well.

"Kole was our starter the first week, but he got a high ankle sprain," Tello said. "He wasn't back until the Arlington game. He also had a really good game against Heritage.

"Blake Hauser has also been playing his best football since the Arlington game. He plays with his arms and his legs, as we saw again in this game. He's been playing mistake-free ball."

Wildcats quarterback Blake Hauser rushed for 120 yards in Friday's victory.

Kole Newton drives toward the goal line for a touchdown in Paloma Valley's 24-21 victory.