Heritage Gets Going in Second Half, Beats Temescal, 35-0

Heritage High running back James Phillips follows the blocking of Brendon Sandoval to pick up yardage in Friday night's win over Temescal Canyon. Photos courtesy kristijophotography.com

By Daniel Millhouse

When you see a final score of 35-0, you wouldn’t think it was a close game, but it was just that for much of the game as Heritage High School defeated Temescal Canyon Friday night.

In fact, with seconds left in the first half, the score was only 7-0. With only 4 seconds left, senior quarterback Brett Virgil hit receiver Javier Luna in the end zone for 38-yard touchdown pass to give the Patriots a little extra cushion before the start of the second half.

"Coming into this game, we definitely underestimated them," Patriots wide receiver Aleva Hifo said about the energy with which Temescal Canyon started the game. "That was a big problem for us. Temescal always wants to beat us. For us, winning league every year, we’re always going to have a bounty on our heads. It’s not surprising they came out like that."

The Patriots defense held tight throughout the game, forcing Titans quarterback Justin Gomez to scramble out of the pocket throughout the evening. Players such as Quentin Asberry, Anthony Adcock, Logan Dreese, and Maina Taoete continually found themselves hunting down Gomez in the backfield.

Although Heritage held the Temescal Canyon offense to only 27 total yards in the first half, the Titans (3-5, 2-1) were still far from being knocked out. In fact, their own defense held the Patriots (8-0, 3-0) to their lowest halftime score this whole season.

"There wasn’t a lot said at halftime," Heritage coach Kraig Broach said about his team going into the break. "I just think that the kids, the focus or whatever, they came out ready to play and that’s a credit to Temescal, but I think that we just got back to what we do and the second half was much better offensively. Defensively we played pretty well throughout the night."

The mood on the sideline changed when in third quarter, Heritage punted the ball to Temescal Canyon. Punt returner Artie Barrera called for a fair catch, but dropped it, leading to players from both sides fighting for the ball. Patriots sophomore James Phillips recovered the ball on the 3-yard line. Because of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Heritage started with the ball on Temescal Canyon's 18-yard line.

Heritage was hit for penalties 9 times in the game for 85 yards.

With 3:34 left in the third quarter, Virgil hit senior running back Jalen Glover for a 4-yard touchdown pass and the duo's second touchdown hookup of the game, to put Heritage up 21-0.

Not deterred by the score, the Titans put together their best offensive drive of the game, driving the ball to the Heritage side of the field. Unfortunately for Temescal Canyon, this drive was halted when Heritage defensive back Jayden Dawson picked off a deep pass attempt at the 3-yard line by Gomez.

Heritage scored two more times in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. With 9:03 left in the game, Virgil hit Hifo on a wide receiver screen pass that Hifo took 45 yards for the touchdown.

A brilliant defensive stop gave the ball back to Heritage when linebacker Logan Dreese sacked Gomez on the Titans' own 22-yard line, forcing Temescal Canyon to go for it on fourth down. Punter Jacob Stepanek ran the ball on a fake punt attempt, but fell short of the first down by a yard. Getting the ball back, Virgil took the ball in for his first touchdown run of the game with 3:42 left, giving his team a 35-0 lead.

The Heritage offense put up a total of 387 yards on the field, 215 of which were rushing yards. The offense was led by Virgil, who was 8 for 15 with 172 yards passing for 4 touchdown passes and 1 interception, while also running the ball in for another touchdown. Other offensive standouts include Glover, who ran the ball 16 times for 164 yards and received the ball 3 times for 23 yards and 2 touchdown receptions. Hifo was held to 2 receptions, but had 53 yards and a touchdown reception to show for it.

The defensive front for Heritage stepped up together as a team to achieve its first shutout of the season.

"It’s not an individual player," Broach said. "What’s fun about this team is that you have 11 guys on defense that are just playing together. Our D-line did a good job. I can’t even pinpoint a guy right now. I just think that we played very well as a unit."

The Patriots will take their 28-game winning streak in league play to crosstown rival Paloma Valley High School next Friday for the Menifee Bowl.

"It’s exciting," Hifo said about the game next week. "It’s a crosstown rivalry -- kids that we play against since we were younger. It’ll be like a reunion for us. The winner of this game will definitely have bragging rights for the next year."

Perhaps Broach said it best when after the game he was asked about the Menifee Bowl.

"This is two teams undefeated in league, playing for a championship. How cool is that? It doesn’t get bigger than that. There’s no need for anything else. That in itself will make it a great football game."

Heritage linebacker Jason King (40) takes down an opponent as teammate Robert Solis (44) moves in.

Running back Jalen Glover escapes the grasp of a Temescal Canyon defender during Friday night's game.

James Phillips extends his body to make a leaping catch for Heritage High Friday night.