It's a long night for Wildcats at Murrieta Valley, 63-21

Paloma Valley High defenders line up against Murrieta Valley during Friday night's game. (Photo by Sakha Arianto)

Content contributed by Jaiden Martinez

Missing at least five starters heading into the game, the Paloma Valley High football team faced a huge challenge going into its game at high-powered Murrieta Valley Friday night. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, things went downhill in a hurry in a 63-21 loss.

The host Nighthawks wasted no time taking the lead, scoring a touchdown on the opening kickoff return. Paloma Valley fought back with a scoring drive capped by Noah Howard’s quarterback sneak, but Murrieta Valley took over from there behind the passing arm of quarterback Brandon Rose and the receiving of Tiger Bachmeier.

Paloma Valley was still in the game at 21-7 after the first quarter, but the defense couldn’t stop the Nighthawks from that point on. Murrieta Valley led 49-14 at halftime.

One bright spot for the Wildcats was the play of linebacker Jacob Hornbeak, who led Paloma Valley with 10 tackles, followed by Elijah Orellana with 6.

Howard completed 10 of 20 passes for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown. Orellana rushed for 56 yards and Hornbeak for 30. Max Hunter had four catches for 40 yards and a touchdown, Daniel Zuniga had six catches for 37 yards, and Jonathan Medina caught a 3-yard touchdown pass.