Under clear skies and a beautiful blue moon, the Monsoon faded away as the Nighthawks thrashed Mayfair last night with a 42-0 win.
Murrieta Valley was in the zone from the very beginning. Senior running back Jacob Augustin barreled through the Monsoon defense setting up Andrew Blake’s touchdown pass to Brandon Iacobellis on the game's opening drive.
Safety Terin Solomon’s first interception of the evening lead to the Nighthawks’ next score. Andrew Blake took the Hawks down the field and into the end zone with a pass to Aaron Paisley to cap the Nighthawk drive. Preston Miller ran the ball in for a two point conversion and Murrieta lead 15-0.
With minutes to go in the first half, Solomon intercepted his second pass of the evening on the Nighthawk 1-yard line, wiping out Mayfair’s only scoring threat in the game.
The Nighthawks played a much more focused game Friday night than they did against Temescal Canyon last week. The defense was intense as Michael Payne, Davis Day, Jacob Macias and Jordan Silva were putting constant pressure on quarterback Woo.
Linebackers Kody Thornburg, Mikey Almodovar and De'sean Bullock shut down the running game while defensive backs Lafayette Waters, Damon Nolan and Weston Brown kept the Monsoon’s pass-oriented offense in check.
The second half was all Murrieta Valley as Blake ended up completing 16 of 24 passes for 202 yards and 3 touchdown passes. Brandon Iacobellis was clutch once again catching two of the touchdowns from Blake and seven receptions.
The Nighthawk Offensive line was a key to Augustin's evening. Jerry Boggs, Grant Hatch and Tanner Mott kept opening holes in the Monsoon defense. Augustine ran for 180 yard on 26 carries and bulled over defenders scoring 2 touchdowns.
Safety Terin Solomon was all over the Monsoon offense with a blocked punt and forced a fumble in addition to his 2 interceptions.
The one negative for the Nighthawks was discipline. Although an improvement from last week, Murrieta Valley committed 14 penalties for 120 yards, including two "roughing the passer" flags. Once this hurdle is overcome, the Nighthawks look to be a very formidable team. The MV offense gained 498 yards, scored 41 points while the defense shut out the Monsoons from Mayfair.
Coach Ireland and his Nighthawks will be traveling to Eastvale next week to take on the Mustangs from Roosevelt High School. Come out and support the Hawks as they look to go 3-0.
