Heritage loses 28-18 decision at home against Pacific

By Parker Costin, Correspondent

The Heritage High Patriots lost to Pacific High in a close football matchup on Friday night, 28-18. The team remains winless this season at 0-5.

The Patriots were struggling getting anything going in the first half, but right after halftime they seemed to get the ball rolling on both sides on the field, scoring 12 points.

Quarterbacks Elijah Sanchez and Felix Gutierrez combined for a total of 12 completions for 151 yards and one touchdown. They ultimately went 0 for 3 on two-point conversions, however, which compounded their problem.

Head coach Rich McClure commented on their offensive struggles.

“You can’t get down to the goal line three times and not get away with anything -- that’s the bottom line,” he said. “We did great getting to the middle of the field, but after we got to that point we seemed to struggle and not get anything to go after that.”

The Patriots’ leading receiver on the night was Nofotau Sili, who caught 4 of his 5 targeted passes for a total of 36 yards and one touchdown. Sili also had a fumble recovery which led to the Patriots getting the ball on the 26-yard line, leading to a touchdown.

The running game for the Patriots was a success, led by Matthew Flores, who had 10 carries for 85 yards and 2 touchdowns. Flores also had a huge 35-yard run late in the third quarter, which got the Patriots’ hopes up high and allowed them to score on the same drive on a run by Flores.

McClure had high praise for Flores following his standout performance.

“He does great reading the blocks from our linemen and he was able to break into those gaps and come out with the result that he did tonight,” the coach said.

The Heritage defense allowed only one touchdown throughout the entirety of the second half. They were able to combine for a total of 5 sacks and 7 tackles for losses. Their leading defensive player was middle linebacker Matthew Mason, who recorded 2 sacks and 2 tackles for losses. This helped the defense gain momentum and was allowing them to stun the Pirates’ offense and keep them at bay after halftime.

Heritage will have a bye next Friday before opening league play against Canyon Springs on Oct. 2.

“We’re going to emphasize defense and rest up,” McClure said. “We’ve got some set-up kids that are going to be joining us, so that’ll help out with the depth chart a bit, and we’re going to have more linebackers to help protect our middle of the defense. Hopefully that’ll help control the heart of the field in our next few games.”