Paloma Holds on to Beat Temescal Canyon, Clinch Playoff Berth

Demarco Prewitt had 77 yards rushing on 17 carries in Paloma Valley's victory Friday night.

Story by Zac Force
Photos by David Stovall

Paloma Valley High School clinched a CIF football playoff berth and improved its record to 3-1 in the Sunbelt League (8-1 overall) by beating Temescal Canyon Friday night, 28-21.

What looked at first to be a one-sided game in favor of the Wildcats turned into a close one-possession game as Temescal Canyon rallied from deficits of 14-0 and 21-7.

Paloma Valley quarterback Brent Boehm was unmatched early, scoring all three of the Wildcats' first-quarter touchdowns. The first came on an 11-yard touchdown pass to wideout Michael Valencia and the following two came on runs of 9 and 5 yards.

The host Titans were only able to put up seven first-quarter points but put up another seven in the third quarter. Temescal Canyon cut Paloma's lead to one touchdown again (21-14) going into the fourth quarter after holding the Wildcats scoreless through the second and third quarters.

Senior RJ Benz had 6 catches for 46 yards in the Wildcats' victory.

During Paloma’s scoring drought, the Titans held onto the ball for 17 minutes and 40 seconds on a total of four possessions. Comparatively, over that span, Paloma only had possession of the ball for 7 minutes and 27 seconds, allowing the Titans to keep Paloma Valley’s offense off the field and limiting the damage.

"They held onto the ball for a long time and that hurt us," said Paloma Valley coach Bert Esposito. "We might have played a little bit too conservatively, but that was part of the strategy."

Following a Demarco Prewitt rushing touchdown which gave Paloma a 28-14 lead, the Titans bounced back with another touchdown of their own, keeping the score once again within seven points. With 3:20 left in the game, the Wildcats started another drive that made it all the way to the Temescal Canyon 3-yard-line, where Boehm lost a fumble.

That gave Temescal Canyon just 45 seconds left to try and move the length of the field to tie the game. Four straight passes by quarterback Sean Tremble were incomplete, however, giving Paloma the victory.

"Their backs were up against the wall and they needed to win tonight to make the playoffs," Esposito said. "With everything on the line, they needed this win more than anything. They're a lot better than their record (3-2, 3-6) indicates."

The offenses were pretty evenly matched. Temescal Canyon compiled 329 total yards and Paloma Valley finished with 314 total yards. The way they earned those yards was quite different, however. Paloma had a much more balanced approach with 180 rushing yards and 134 passing yards. Temescal had only 30 passing yards but racked up 298 yards on the ground.

Temescal Canyon had 30:21 time of possession to the 17:39 of Paloma, which proved to be a big factor in the game.

Boehm completed 15 of 17 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown. On top of that, he also rushed for 109 yards on 12 attempts with two touchdowns.

Paloma Valley will finish the regular season at 2-7 Lakeside next week.

Paloma Valley defender Felix Bogroff takes down Temescal Canyon running back Michael Erim.

Paloma Valley quarterback Brent Boehm breaks through the pack on his way to a touchdown.

Linebacker Anthony Adcock dives into the heart of the Temescal Canyon offense to make a tackle.