Paloma Valley, Heritage Both Home in CIF Semifinal Games

The Paloma Valley and Heritage High School football teams are both home tonight in the CIF Southern Section playoffs -- just one step away from a rematch in the championship game.

Paloma Valley plays host to Rancho Verde in one Central Division semifinal tonight at 7, while Heritage is at home against Kaiser High in the other semifinal. The winners advance to the championship game on Saturday, Dec. 1.

Heritage, the Sunbelt League champion, is 11-1 overall after defeating Arlington 35-7 last week. The Patriots face a Kaiser team that is also 11-1, having defeated Temescal Canyon last week, 14-10.

Running back Jamal Morrow leads the Heritage offense. He has rushed for 2,049 yards and 16 touchdowns, despite being slowed by a knee injury in recent weeks. He returned strong in the second half last week against Arlington and should be a focal point of the team's attack tonight.

Quarterback Mat Bradshaw has passed for 670 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Paloma Valley, which started the season 5-0, is 9-3 overall after scoring a 56-14 victory over Colony last week. The Wildcats' opponent, Rancho Verde, also is 9-3 after holding on to beat Elsinore 42-40 last week.

Paloma Valley's leading rusher is David Solis, who has rushed for 1,635 yards and 22 touchdowns. Quarterback Brent Boehm has passed for 2,150 yards and 21 TDs.

If both Menifee teams win tonight, they will meet in an all-city championship game that will be a rematch of an Oct. 19 game played at Heritage. The Patriots won that game, 24-13.