Heritage Has Easy Time With Perris in League Opener, 56-3

Isaiah Morrow heads upfield for a big gain in Heritage's 56-3 win over Perris Friday night.

By Zac Force

Heritage High's football team got off to a fast start in Sunbelt League play Friday night, beating Perris High 56-3 in the Patriots' Homecoming game.

Perris scored the first points of the game with a field goal, giving the Panthers a 3-0 lead, but Heritage then struck for 56 unanswered points. Heritage scored 35 points in the second quarter and another 21 points in the second half.

With the win, Heritage improved to 5-1 overall. Perris dropped to 0-1 in league play and 2-4 overall.

Head coach Kraig Broach said this was a big win for the Patriots, who had been on the road the last four games.

"Homecoming aside, it’s the first game of league and it was great to win that," he said. "But we need to play better to compete with Temescal."

Heritage will host Temescal Canyon next Friday as the Patriots continue their bid to win the league title.

The Patriots' offense put up a total of 416 yards, 324 of which came from rushing. Isaiah Morrow led the rushing attack with eight carries for 100 yards.

Heritage was just as effective on defense against Perris. The Panthers had negative 51 yards rushing and only 2 yards passing, giving them a total of negative 49 yards total offense in the game.

The Patriots' defense was able to capitalize on every mistake made by the Panthers, which helped give the offense plenty of opportunities to succeed -- and the offense did just that.

Heritage trailed 3-0 early in the second quarter when Sione Takitaki (right) caught a touchdown pass from Aleva Hifo, who got some valuable playing time by playing the whole game at quarterback in place of starter Brett Virgil. About a minute later, it was 14-3 after Raul Amaya returned an interception for a TD.

Before the half was over, Heritage had scored two more times. Takitaki ran for a touchdown and Hifo passed to Evan Rodriguez for another score for a 35-3 halftime lead.

In the second half, Hifo ran 17 yards for a touchdown and Carlos Vargas scored on a 57-yard run.

This was the Patriots' highest scoring game of the season and the least amount of points and yards they have given up. Perris recorded its lowest point total of the season. Perris has been outscored 97-9 in its last two games.

The homecoming queen was also announced at halftime. Odessa Chandler (left) was chosen from a group that included Melissa Quijada, Elizabeth Gonzalez, Leslie Gastelum, and Kendra Johnston.

Heritage's defense made life miserable for Perris offensive players all night.

Heritage running back Carlos Vargas runs away from the field on a long touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Getting his first start at quarterback, Aleva Hifo scored on a 17-yard touchdown run.