Vista Murrieta proves to be too much for Heritage, 48-6

Heritage High linebacker Kanye Young (43) wraps up a Vista Murrieta ballcarrier Friday night. (Photos by Kristi Jo Aguirre)

By Doug Spoon, Editor

“You want to be a big-time football program, go play big-time guys,” said Heritage High School football coach Andre Smith late Friday night.

That’s just what the Patriots did, playing host to the traditionally powerful Vista Murrieta Broncos. In his second game as Heritage’s head coach, Smith is committed to rebuilding the offense and developing his skill players by playing top-notch opponents.

The result this time? A 48-6 loss on the scoreboard, plus the loss of the Patriots’ starting quarterback and one of their top linemen with injuries. It might have been tough to take at the time, but Smith vowed to use the experience as a building block.

“You don’t forget about it, you grow and learn from it,” Smith said after the loss. “We’ve never played those guys before. That’s big-time football over there. We’ll watch the film; there’s a ton of good stuff in there.”

Still developing their passing game, the Patriots kept their offense on the ground for most of the night against the visitors – and that was slow going against a physical defense. Sophomore running back Angelo Serena gained 119 yards for Heritage, but it took him 34 carries to do it. He scored his team’s only touchdown in the second quarter to cut the Broncos’ lead to 14-6.

Quarterback Hayden Lara attempted only four passes in the game, completing 2 for 16 yards, and gained 81 yards rushing on scrambles in the first half. He left the game after taking a crushing helmet-to-helmet tackle in the third quarter and was replaced by junior Enrique Chavez. Moments later, left tackle Nathan Guerrero was carted off the field with a right leg injury.

The extent of those injuries was not known Friday night.

“That’s the bad part; you play in a super high-level violent game, you lose some guys,” Smith said. "You pray those guys are good. If they aren’t ready to go, you go with other players you are developing. Everyone we have is working hard.”

After Heritage punted on its first possession, Vista Murrieta needed just two plays to score its first touchdown on a 46-yard run by senior Gavin Galzote. The score stayed at 7-0 until Broncos quarterback Brady Jones hit Ezekiel Vestal with a 4-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead.

Serena’s touchdown run early in the second quarter made it 14-6, but Vista Murrieta drove 80 yards in 14 plays to score on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Vestal for a 21-6 lead. Heritage’s defense had actually forced a Broncos punt in the middle of that possession, but the punt return was fumbled away, prolonging Vista Murrieta’s drive.

“Their special teams are awesome,” Smith said about the Broncos. “We held pretty good against the punt early and had decent field position. When we muffed the punt, that changed the complexion of the game.”

Vista Murrieta (1-1) scored twice more before halftime for a commanding 31-6 lead at the intermission.

Heritage (1-1) will face another tough opponent next week at Chaparral.

Heritage quarterback Hayden Lara finds some running room in Friday night's game.

Vista Murrieta running back Matthew Caldera runs into a pair of Heritage defenders.