Paloma Valley goes all out in 56-21 win over Poly

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Everyone got into the act on offense and the defense tightened up in the second half Saturday as the Paloma Valley High football team scored a 56-21 victory over Poly in a Sunbelt League opener.

Quarterback Brady Nelson completed 17 of 22 passes for 314 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also ran for 23 yards and a TD. The senior has now passed for 1,952 yards and 16 touchdowns this season for the Wildcats, who are 4-3 overall.

“Brady is getting more confidence in the offense each game,” coach Juan Merida said. “He’s requesting for me to let him call more plays because he’s seeing things on the field.”

Nelson spread his passes around to several receivers. Jefferey Blalock had 7 catches for 216 yards and 3 touchdowns. He caught a screen pass and ran 80 yards down the sideline on the Wildcats’ first play of the second half. Freshman Josiah Williams had 4 catches for 28 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown.

In addition, Keegan Kelley had 3 catches for 91 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had an 85-yard run towards the end of the third quarter.

Damien Ramirez had a rushing touchdown and 33 yards on 7 carries.

On defense, Joey Davis had a 57-yard interception return, setting up a 2-yard touchdown right before halftime. Aaron Young had an interception to stop a Poly drive and Anthony Hall recovered a fumble to stop another drive.

Things started slowly for the Wildcats, who trailed 21-20 before putting it all together and shutting out Poly the rest of the way.

“I went out there and challenged the defense and they rose to the occasion,” Merida said. “We’re still working on correct technique on tackling and swarming to the ball. The offense is finally clicking, doing all the detailed stuff a little more consistently now.”

Paloma Valley will play at Vista Del Lago as league play continues next Friday.