Paloma Valley's Season Ends With 41-35 Loss to Kaiser

Demarco Prewitt crosses the goal line for a touchdown in Friday night's playoff game, won by Kaiser. Photos by David Stovall

By Zac Force

Despite a big night by sophomore running back Demarco Prewitt, Paloma Valley High's football season ended Friday night with a 41-35 loss to Kaiser in the CIF-SS Central Division quarterfinals.

Prewitt rushed for 275 yards and three touchdowns for Paloma Valley (10-2), which rallied from a 14-point deficit to tie the score at 35-35 late in the fourth quarter. The tying score came on a 93-yard fumble return by the Wildcats' Michael Valencia (below left, in an earlier play).

But Kaiser responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive capped by quarterback Raymond Padilla's 6-yard TD run.

Paloma Valley had one final possession but lost the ball on a fumble and Kaiser went on to victory.

"We had too many mistakes. That isn’t like us," said Paloma Valley coach Bert Esposito. "It wasn’t a specific mistake that we made; it was the amount of mistakes we made."

Even in defeat, Esposito expressed pride in the accomplishments of his players this season.

"This was an amazing season," he said. "The kids really earned it and it was one of the best in school history."

On the very first play from scrimmage, Prewitt took off for a 71-yard touchdown run, giving Paloma a 7-0 lead. Kaiser then bounced back with a defensive score when Paloma quarterback Brent Boehm’s fumble was returned for a 60-yard touchdown.

Prewitt struck for two more first-quarter touchdowns, giving the Wildcats a 21-7 lead heading into the second quarter.

The second quarter was relatively quiet. The only score came on a 47-yard touchdown run by Kaiser's Padilla. This touchdown seemed to spark Kaiser, which rattled off 21 unanswered points in the third quarter.

Faced with a 35-21 deficit going into the fourth quarter, Paloma Valley finally found the end zone with a touchdown pass from Boehm to wide receiver R.J. Benz, cutting the lead to one possession. Then came Valencia's fumble return for a TD.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Padilla engineered the winning drive for Kaiser moments later.

Kaiser’s 492 rushing yards nearly doubled Paloma’s 256 rushing yards. Even though Paloma had 134 passing yards to Kaiser’s 18, the Wildcats still had 120 total less offensive yards.

Paloma was called for 11 penalties for 100 yards while Kaiser only had 5 for 34 yards. Kaiser more than doubled the Wildcats' time of possession with 32:18 to just 15:42 for Paloma.