Gallegos runs for 5 touchdowns in Paloma Valley's 60-21 win

Content contributed by Jaiden Martinez

Stephen Gallegos ran for five touchdowns Friday night to lead the Paloma Valley High School football team to a 60-21 win over host Valley View in the final game of the regular season.

Gallegos ran 1 yard for a touchdown in the first quarter, which ended in a 7-7 tie. After Valley scored twice on long runs to take a 21-7 lead in the second quarter, Gallegos scored three straight TDs on runs of 30, 1 and 6 yards. Tristan Keplinger caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Noah Howard to round out the scoring in the half, which the Wildcats led, 35-21.

Gallegos picked up where he left off at the start of the third quarter, running 5 yards for his fifth touchdown. Later in the period, Max Hunter caught a 4-yard TD pass and Keplinger caught another TD pass from Howard.

In the fourth quarter, Howard ran 12 yards for a touchdown to round out the scoring.

Paloma Valley’s defense also had a great game, Dylan Brandenburg had two interceptions and Bryan Cortez had one. The Wildcats also recovered two fumbles.

With the win, Paloma Valley finishes in third place in the Sunbelt League with a 2-2 record. The Wildcats are 2-7 overall, however, and will have to wait until Sunday to find out if they are accepted into the CIF playoffs.