Heritage starts fast en route to a 34-21 football victory

Frank Tavake, shown here carrying the ball against Rancho Verde March 27, scored two touchdowns in Thursday's win. (Photo by Amber Garcia)

Frank Tavake ran for two touchdowns, Heritage High led 34-0 after three quarters, and the Patriots scored their first football victory of the season Thursday night, 34-21 over Valley View.

Ifeatu Okafor got the Patriots on the scoreboard first with a 34-yard touchdown run on the team’s second offensive possession. That came after the Heritage defense forced a Valley View punt on the Eagles’ first possession.

Tavake’s first touchdown run covered 5 yards and helped give the Patriots a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. That scoring drive was set up a Heritage recovery of a Valley View fumble. Tavake helped make it 21-0 later in the quarter with an 11-yard TD run.

The Patriots (1-2) kept the pressure on the host Eagles (0-3) by recovering an onside kick on the next play. Heritage took advantage of the opportunity, scoring on a 3-yard run by BJ Johnson, making the score 27-0 at halftime.

The lead increased to 34-0 after quarterback Hayden Lara connected with Naisir Morrow on a 65-yard touchdown pass play. With the game pretty much decided, Valley View scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to cut somewhat into the Patriots’ lead. 

"It was great to see our guys go out there and put together a complete game," Patriots coach Adam Contreras said. "We had solid play by our O line and were able to run the ball. That opened up our passing game and were able to have some success there as well. Defensively, we played very well and rallied to the ball. I’m proud of our players, the way they responded this week. "

Heritage’s next game will be at Elsinore High beginning at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 10.