Titan Highlights

Mike Jones 3-4 with a Double, Triple and RBI

Dylan Plutner 2-4 with an RBI

Ethan Strawbridge and Gavin Fouts with Doubles

Gavin Meyer picks up the win with 6 strike outs

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Bulldogs bully Titans, Cougars hunt down Mustangs in week 9

This is the second to final week before the regular season ends: everyone is gearing up for the playoffs. Unfortunately not everyone is going to get a chance to compete in the postseason: spots are limited.  Hemet High pulled up to Tahquitz High School on Friday knowing that that had to win if they wanted to make the playoffs this season. Hemet was fresh off a loss to San Jacinto High, but San Jacinto plays in a much higher division than Hemet: and that is really the story of Hemet’s season; losses coming to opponents that are ranked much higher than they (Chaparral, J.W. North, Beaumont, & San Jacinto).  Hemet High has a truly elite defense; they play fast and play hard, led by Senior safety Bradley Fye and Junior Cornerback Frankie Castillo. Together they lock down receivers and force teams to improvise. 

Tahquitz has struggled on offense.  They have had some coaching staff issues that they will hope to resolve when the season is over, but for now, they just have to get out of their league play. Unfortunately for them, four out of the five opponents in league are in much higher divisions, which makes it hard to make the playoffs in your own division. Hemet got started early in this game and never really let up: before Tahquitz even knew what was happening Hemet had a huge lead and they never let up. This game was a good old-fashioned butt-kicking by Hemet High.  They needed to bounce back in a big way. Hemet went on to win 43-0 and increase their chances of a playoff berth. 

Beaumont traveled down to West Valley last week. West Valley started off their season 2-0 and were riding a wave of confidence that was quickly derailed when they started to run into opponents like Temecula Valley & San Jacinto. They didn’t look like they would make much of a wave at all this season. Then suddenly they took on Citrus Hill and nearly squeaked out a victory (14-6). Citrus has been the top dog in the league for a long time, so to keep a game close and to lose it in only the final seconds was actually very impressive. All of a sudden there were talks going around wondering if West Valley would be able to pull off the upset against Beaumont. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, it was never even close. Beaumont jumped out to a huge lead and never let off the gas, winning the matchup 42-0, putting West Valley on a 6-game losing streak. 

This was a huge week for Mountain Pass League teams: currently San Jacinto (4-0) sits in first place in the league. Beaumont (3-1) is in second place. Hemet (2-2) and Citrus Hill (2-2) are tied for third, although Hemet currently owns the tiebreaker between the two. Tahquitz (1-3) is currently in fifth place, and West Valley (0-4) is in last place in the league. 

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Bulldogs Make History, Tigers Assert Themselves In Division

In our first game this week we take you to Titan Stadium, where the Tahquitz Titans hosted their cross town rivals the West Valley Mustangs. Tahquitz and West Valley have been rivals since Tahquitz opened in 2007, forcing a very promising group of football players to split up.

In 2006 the West Valley Freshman Football team had an impressive 8-2 record, blowing out their opponents on a regular basis. Half of the team was relocated to Tahquitz and the other half remained at West Valley. Players from that Freshman team went on to receive scholarships, earn all-league honors, and play in many CIF games, but for different schools.

Both teams had to work off a lot of nerves in the beginning of the game. Tahquitz scored a defensive touchdown from a failed hand off attempt. The score quickly was 7-0.  Tahquitz wouldn’t let up either. Their offense looked electric, making quick well-timed throws. Tahquitz also found success when running the ball against West Valley. At the start of the fourth quarter Tahquitz was leading 24-6.

That’s when West Valley seemed to wake up.

They started playing the way their offense is designed to play: quick slants to their wide receivers and bubble screens to their speed guys. West Valley was able to get back into the game at 24-20.  Their defense made an incredible stand and got the ball back. With only 8 seconds left in the game and across mid-field they had time for just one play. West Valley’s quarterback launched the football all the way to the endzone, in a sea of Titans and Mustangs players. The Tahquitz Titans came up with the ball and secured the “dub.”

(Titans Hold Off Mustangs)

The Bulldogs welcomed Citrus Hill into their house. Citrus Hill is renowned as the team to beat in the league. Citrus Hill is ranked in a higher division and historically has dominated contenders. The last time they lost was in 2010 against Beaumont High School. Citrus came into the game with a 44-0 win streak against league opponents. Hemet embraced the underdog role and welcomed their opponents with attitude. The game was a defensive battle and Hemet showed that they are no one’s doormat.

In the fourth quarter the score was 7-7.  The game was filled with huge hits, trash talk, and aggression. Hemet would keep their composure and the offense would march down the field with less than two minutes to play. The ball was in the red zone, but it was fourth down. Coach Gregovich had a decision to make: go for it or trust his first year senior kicker Asaiah Aguilar (Asaiah is a soccer standout for Hemet High). Coach Gregovich decided he would put the game in the leg of his kicker. Asaiah Aguilar drilled the game winner and made history that night: Hemet never beat Citrus before last Friday. Now we are left to wonder: did David slay Goliath, or did they just awaken a sleeping giant?

Beaumont thought they were the team to beat in the league, averaging of 40 points a game in the first five games of the season. However, all of their first five opponents were ranked much lower than them in the Maxpreps California Rankings, (478, 910, 1007, 732, 809.). Beaumont was feeling confident with their 5-0 record coming into Friday night. San Jacinto had quite a different story this season: coming into Friday night they had record 3-2 record and played some very difficult opponents in the first half of their season.  

San Jacinto’s opponents were respectively ranked 253, 97, 301, 133, and 145. San Jacinto also averaged 21 points per game, but they have also been playing with a handicap: senior receiver Antoine Sullivan has been sitting out. Having Antoine really lets Coach Galliano open up his play book.  It also gives receivers Damonce Williams and Kameron Rocha a break since Antoine is a deep threat on every play. Opponents can’t ignore him and they have to know where he is at all times.

Beaumont was talking a lot of trash before this game, which really put San Jacinto in a good mental space. One player told me, “they are 5-0 but who have they played? A bunch of nobodies?” San Jacinto wanted to travel to Beaumont and prove just that. San Jacinto would win the game 45-21, led by Kajiya Hollawayne’s 301 passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns, 80 rushing yards, and 1 rushing touchdown. Juan Denny’s 157 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. Antoine Sullivan’s 148 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns.

This week was a very fun week of league play with some surprising outcomes.

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San Jacinto vs. Eastlake

In this week’s Game of the Week matchup, we bring you back to San Jacinto where the Tigers welcome Eastlake High into their stadium for a showdown that should bring great defense and offense for all spectators. Under center for the Tigers is Junior Quarterback Kajiya Hollawayne. Rivals.com currently has Kajiya as the 39th ranked player in the state and a 3-star recruit. He is coming off of arguably one of the best performances by a quarterback in San Jacinto High School History, three passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, over 200 yards rushing and over 200 yards throwing. Hollawayne will need to bring the momentum and the same energy on Friday night if they are going to take down Eastlake. 

The Eastlake Titans are 0-3 to start the season but still ranked 109. They will be trying to come into San Jacinto to get their first win of the season. That means they are coming in hungry and willing to do whatever it takes to walk out of the stadium the victors. San Jacinto better is preparing for a dog fight, because it’s going to be a heck of a game. 

It appears that Eastlake is in the middle of an identity crisis; they are having a quarterback competition in the middle of the season between two juniors. That makes it difficult for both teams to prepare for the game. Eastlake is going to have a hard time rallying the team with no obvious leader to command the field and huddle. Ryan Cogdill (San Jacinto’s Defensive Coordinator) will have a hard time preparing for the week and adapting during the game, with quarterbacks coming in and out it’s hard to get a feel of what their tendencies and capabilities are. I expect Coach Cogdill to have it figured out by half time, that’s when San Jacinto’s defense will be able to exploit Eastlakes inconsistency. This game is going to be very entertaining and is a good preview of the quality of schools San Jacinto will have to play if they are going to make another deep run in the playoffs this season. 

In other Mountain Pass League games this week Hemet (395) travels to Riverside to take on John W North (287), Tahquitz (686) will head to Moreno Valley to play Canyon Springs (915), West Valley (564) is home and celebrating Homecoming against Vista Del Lago (568), Beaumont (229) has a home game against their rival Banning (746), and Citrus Hill(100) will take on Rancho Mirage (250). As always The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle will have a complete recap of this week’s action available on their Youtube channel, make sure to Comment, Like, Subscribe to stay updated on what’s happening in our valley’s high school sports.

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