Late Defensive Plays Help Paloma Valley Remain Unbeaten

Demarco Prewitt finds running room for a long gain late in the fourth quarter of Paloma Valley's 35-29 win over Elsinore Friday night.

In a perfect world, the Paloma Valley High School football players would eliminate their penalties and not have to sweat out frantic fourth-quarter drives by the opposition.

But the Wildcats' record is indeed still perfect Friday night after a hard-fought victory, and that was coach Bert Esposito's primary concern.

"We keep finding ways to win," Esposito said after Paloma Valley's 35-29 victory over visiting Elsinore in the Sunbelt League opener for both teams. "I don't care if it's 2-0 or 50-49; it's a win, and the guys did what they had to."

Senior quarterback Brent Boehm passed for 292 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Michael Valencia (right) in the first quarter. Sophomore running back Demarco Prewitt rushed for 97 yards and two touchdowns, plus a third TD on a pass reception from Boehm. Yet it was the defense that had to come up biggest when the game was on the line.

The Wildcats (1-0, 6-0) didn't score again after Prewitt's 1-yard touchdown run gave them a 35-17 lead early in the third quarter. Elsinore (0-1, 2-4) fought back with a 4-yard TD run by Davis Peralta and a 20-yard TD pass from quarterback Tommy Wilson to Chris Harris before the quarter was over, cutting Paloma's lead to 35-29 entering the final period.

That's when the Paloma Valley defense came up big. Showing that they had the ability to shake off earlier mistakes and costly penalties, the Wildcat defenders forced two turnovers and stopped Elsinore's final desperation drive in the final minutes to preserve the victory.

Early in the quarter, Fred Lundy intercepted a fourth-down pass by Wilson deep inside Elsinore territory. Paloma Valley was unable to score on the ensuing drive, but the Wildcats got the ball right back on the next possession when Kre Webb recovered an Elsinore fumble near midfield.

Paloma Valley was forced to punt on its next possession, giving Elsinore the ball back with almost four minutes remaining and the chance to pull out a victory with a touchdown and extra point. It never happened, however.

After two straight incompletions against a solid Paloma pass defense, Wilson went to the air again on fourth down along the left sideline. Defensive back Felix Bogroff outjumped the receiver to knock the ball down (left) and give it back to the Wildcats, who killed the remaining time on the clock.

"I read it at the last second and got over there," Bogroff said about the defensive play. "I looked up and just jumped for the ball."

Esposito was pleased with the way his players responded late in the game.

"Those close games against Moreno Valley and Temecula Valley really gave our guys some character," he said. "Tonight they did it again; they found a way to win.

"That's what we needed. Starting out 5-0 is nice, but character building is the key. They made some mistakes earlier, but they didn't sulk and let up. They did what they had to do."

Junior running back Elliott Smith left the game in the third quarter with an injury to his right knee. The extent of his injury was not known Friday night.

Paloma Valley quarterback Brent Boehm turns upfield for a big gain in Friday's win over Elsinore.

Wildcats receiver Phillip Hauser stretches for extra yardage after a pass reception Friday night.

The training staff attends to junior Elliott Smith, who suffered a knee injury.

Boehm Leads Paloma to Wild Victory at Temecula Valley, 49-34

Paloma Valley quarterback Brent Boehm picks up yardage against Temecula Valley in the Wildcats' win. (Photos by David Stovall)

It turned out to be a bit closer than they wanted, but the Paloma Valley Wildcats had more than enough offense to remain unbeaten at 5-0 with a 49-34 victory at Temecula Valley Friday night.

Quarterback Brent Boehm passed for 209 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more scores for the Wildcats, who piled up 450 yards total offense. Junior running back Elliott Smith (below) scored two TDs, including a 9-yard TD in the final moments, helping Paloma put away the victory in a game it lead by just eight points (42-34) with 4:58 remaining.

The host Golden Bears (2-2) stayed in the game at that point when quarterback Kyle Plantier hit Griffin Doran with a 14-yard touchdown pass, followed by a two-point conversion. Paloma Valley responded, however, driving 40 yards in seven plays on the next possession, capped by the TD run by Smith.

Plantier passed for 253 yards and four touchdowns, but it wasn't enough for the Golden Bears in this nonleague shootout.

In addition to his 122 yards and two touchdowns rushing, Boehm threw two TD passes to Michael Valencia (27, 38 yards) and one to RJ Benz (11 yards) in the first half for the Wildcats.

Defensive back Felix Bogroff had a game game for Paloma Valley as well, leading the way with 11 tackles.

Touchdown passes by Boehm to Valencia and Benz and PAT kicks gave Paloma Valley a 14-0 lead in the early going, but Temecula Valley fought back. Plantier responded with two touchdown passes to Kumar Kilambi, but two-point conversion attempts failed following both scores, leaving the Wildcats with a 14-12 lead.

Fred Lundy made sure Paloma Valley kept the lead for good on the ensuing kickoff, however. He returned the kick 92 yards for a score, giving the Wildcats a 21-12 lead after the PAT.

After a bye week next week, Paloma Valley opens Sunbelt League play at home Oct. 11 against Elsinore High.

A crowd of Paloma Valley defenders wrap up Temecula Valley running back Garrison Flores.

Paloma Athletes of the Week: Vinluan, Bogroff, Bennett, Cowan

Paloma Valley Athletes of the Week, left to right: Marc Vinluan, Felix Bogroff, Ashlyn Bennett, Alexandra Cowan.

Recipients of the Paloma Valley High School Athlete of the Week awards, sponsored by Menifee 24/7, are cross country runner Marc Vinluan, football player Felix Bogroff, golfer Ashlynn Bennett and volleyball player Alexandra Cowan.

Vinluan is hoping for big things for the Wildcats cross country team after competing in his first varsity meet last week at the Bronco Round-Up in Escondido. Vinluan worked hard last year to become one of the JV team's top runners despite dealing with a knee injury that requires constant therapy. He said Saturday's meet helped him gauge where he's at in preparing to realize his full potential.

"The meet was an eye opener," Vinluan said. "It showed me what I have to work on, like my stamina and my kick at the end. It just takes hard work and commitment."

Bogroff, a senior safety in the Wildcats' defensive backfield, leads the team in total tackles after the first two games with 16. He had eight each in big wins over San Benardino and Sultana. This is his third year as a varsity starter.

"Everything just comes to me more smoothly now," said Bogroff, whose goal is to "beat last year's stats," which included a total of 88 tackles, second on the team.

Last year, Bogroff averaged 6.8 tackles per game. He's ahead of that pace so far this season. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound defensive back is considering attending University of Redlands next fall.

Bennett is a junior who also played on the varsity girls golf team as a freshman. She has been playing the sport since she was 4 years old, when she started hanging out on the course with her father.

"I used to play in the sand traps, then I started wondering why I couldn't play golf, too," she said. "My dad taught me. I've never had a private lesson outside that."

Bennett's best nine-hole score ever was the 42 she recorded last week in a match against Temecula Valley at the Temecula Legends Club.

Cowan's position with the girls volleyball team is libero, which is the starting unit's defensive specialist. It's her job to receive serves whenever possible, absorb the hard hits from the opposition and set up the front-row players for kills.

Cowan's key stat is "digs," or digging out hard-hit balls to preserve a rally for her teammates. She ranks second on the team with 13 digs heading into today's match at West Valley High in Hemet.

"I like the satisfaction of facing the opposition's hitting and getting the ball back," said Cowan, a senior in her second year on the varsity team. "I try to get as many digs and return as many serves as I can. There's a big joke in volleyball that libero is the ballhog."

In addition to a certificate from Menifee 24/7, the athletes received an Athlete of the Week T-shirt from the Paloma Valley athletic department.