The Murrieta Nighthawks clicked into cruise control Friday night and dominated visiting Temecula Valley in a 49-0 victory on Senior Night.
Coach Greg Ireland’s team finished the season with a 9-1 record, the best in school history. The win secured the Nighthawks second place in their league and a CIF playoff berth.
The Nighthawks took control of the game early and never relented. Wide Receiver Alex Montion got the Hawks rolling and put Murrieta Valley on the board with a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andrew Blake.
Damon Nolan returned a Temecula Valley punt 55 yards into the end zone to give the Nighthawks a 14-0 lead in the fourth quarter.
The Murrieta Valley defense returned to form against the Golden Bears, recoding their fourth shutout of the season. Weston Brown intercepted his sixth pass of the year while teammates Terin Solomon, Mike Alvomodar, Jordon Silva and Michael Payne shut down the Bear offense.
The Nighthawk defense recorded three sacks and three turnovers.
In the second quarter, with the ball on their own 1 yard line, the Nighthawks engineered a 99-yard scoring drive that resulted with a Blake to Hector Bautista 29-yard touchdown toss. Murrieta led 21-0 at the half.
Bautista finished the game with 4 receptions for 86 yards and a TD. Blake was 11-20 for 146 yards and 2 Tds.
Murrieta Valley turned to a little trickery early in the third quarter. Damon Nolan fielded a Golden Bear punt and executed a perfect reverse, handing off to De’Sean Bullock who took the ball 30 yards into the end zone. The play caught Temecula Valley and the fans totally off guard.
The Nighthawks scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter—the first on a 5-yard run by Taylor Rood. Backup QB Preston Miller then hit WR Ryan Felder for a 7-yard touchdown pass and the MV led 42-0 at the end of the third quarter.
Murrieta Valley rounded out the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run by senior Anthony Franco in the fourth quarter.
Coach Ireland and his staff worked all the seniors into the game at Nighthawk Stadium.
“It was great to win the season final at home and end at 9-1,” Ireland said. “We start all over on Monday. It’s time to concentrate on playoffs”.
The CIF playoff schedule will be announced Sunday.
