Paloma Valley Dominates on Both Sides of Ball in Opener, 61-6

By Zac Force

The Paloma Valley High Wildcats won on the road in a 61-6 blowout against the San Bernardino Cardinals Friday night. Paloma Valley had a dominating performance from both its offense and defense in its season opener.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Wildcats held San Bernardino to just 75 total offensive yards and no offensive touchdowns. An even more striking part of the game was Paloma Valley’s pass defense, which actually held the Cardinals to negative passing yards. They had -8 passing yards in the game and were intercepted three times.

On offense, Paloma Valley compiled 370 total yards. Demarco Prewitt led Wildcat rushers with 109 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries.

Paloma Valley marched right down the field with ease on its first possession. Quarterback Brent Boehm showed great poise and full control of the field as he completed a 27-yard pass to Elliot Smith and had multiple rushes for 35 yards before finally connecting with Michael Valencia for an 8-yard touchdown.

The first two drives of the game were not as pretty for San Bernardino; both times, quarterback Nico Forbes was promptly intercepted by C.J. Parker. Both of Parker’s interceptions were returned for touchdowns.

Just like their previous possession, the Wildcats flew down the field on their next drive, this time on the back of Prewitt, who rushed for 60 yards on two carries on the drive. Boehm then found Valencia again for another quick touchdown.

The team as a whole boasted a positive 4-1 turnover ratio. The Wildcats intercepted the ball three times and recovered one fumble, while throwing only one interception. Even though they only had one fumble recovery, they did force a total of four fumbles.

San Bernardino’s only points came from an interception return for a touchdown by Keon Stephens in the third quarter. The extra point was blocked.

“We just outplayed and outperformed them tonight, especially physically,” said head coach Bert Esposito. “We were well prepared and played extremely hard. We played harder than them and that helped us win.”

Whether on the ground, through the air, or by brute force defense, the Wildcats were successful. Even though this was their first game of the year, it could be a glimpse of the potentially dominating team the Wildcats can become this season.