Mistakes prove costly for Paloma Valley in 32-13 loss
Quarterback Brady Nelson runs wide to pick up yardage in Friday night's game. (Photo by Doug Spoon) By Doug Spoon, Editor Paloma Valle...
Quarterback Brady Nelson runs wide to pick up yardage in Friday night's game. (Photo by Doug Spoon)
By Doug Spoon, Editor
Paloma Valley High showed some flashes of an offense that accounted for victories the first two games, but breakdowns on both sides of the ball hurt the Wildcats Friday night in a 32-13 loss at Kaiser High of Fontana.
Kaiser (2-1) controlled the line of scrimmage and used speedy outside runs to take a 20-13 lead that it never surrendered. Paloma Valley (2-1) spent the second half trying to play catch-up, but a mixture of holding calls, dropped passes and missed tackles cost the visitors dearly.
It wasn’t exactly the tune-up the Wildcats wanted heading into next week’s Menifee Bowl game against winless Heritage.
“Lots of mistakes, lots of penalties,” coach Juan Merida said in summing up the team’s problems. “They’re a good, physical football team. We told our guys about that ahead of time. Against a quality opponent, you can’t make so many mistakes. Not taking anything away from them, they earned it with physical play and controlling the ball.”
Paloma quarterback Brady Nelson tried his best to move the team downfield through the air, but there weren’t enough connections to offset Kaiser’s success. Nelson completed 24 of 38 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown in a losing cause.
The game was tied 13-13 in the second quarter before Kaiser went on a 64-yard scoring drive capped by Kiyel Tyler’s 1-yard scoring run for a 20-13 lead. Paloma Valley tried to rally before halftime and managed to reach the Kaiser 19-yard line before time ran out, leading to a failed field goal attempt on the final play of the quarter.
Late in the third quarter, it appeared momentum might shift in Paloma Valley’s favor. After Jayden Hershey sacked the Kaiser quarterback on third down to force a punt, Paloma Valley got the ball at midfield with a chance to drive for a game-trying score. But Nelson was intercepted on the third play of the drive, sending Kaiser on a possession that ended in a 14-yard TD run by Tyler.
“That could’ve been a turning point,” Merida said. “It happens. Maybe it was a bad play call at that time. I’ll take that one. We just need to get better with time.
“At times we flashed and did some good things, but for the most part, they controlled the line of scrimmage tonight.”
Paloma tried to fight back from a two-touchdown deficit on its next drive, but the drive stalled at midfield and a pass from Nelson to Arthur Clemons fell short of first down. Kaiser quickly took advantage again, driving 58 yards in five plays to score on an 8-yard run by Tyler. A key play of the drive was a 52-yard run by Tyler Tucker for the eventual winning margin of 32-13.
After the game, Merida tried to put it all in perspective.
“The effort is there; it’s the technique we need to fix,” he said. “We’re a little bit high on tackles, and we’re not moving our feet enough on blocks. We’re not looking the ball into the hands; we had some drops tonight. We got ourselves some holding calls. But I can’t fault the effort. It’s just some things we’ve got to fix.”
Paloma Valley’s minimal rushing effort was led by Damian Ramirez, who gained 39 yards on 13 carries. Orlando Gonzalez kicked two field goals for the Wildcats. Paloma's only touchdown came on an 18-yard throw from Nelson to Clemons on the first possession of the game.
