The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Nighthawks surge past the Mustangs
EASTVALE >> The difference in the final yardage totals were not as lopsided as the final score would indicate.
Murrieta Valley and Roosevelt both moved the ball on offense. The difference was in how the teams finished.
Bear Bachmeier accounted for five touchdowns and Asa Chatman racked up 269 yards from scrimmage as Murrieta Valley pulled away for a 48-17 victory over Roosevelt on Friday in a Big West Conference opener.
“Everything felt a little sluggish at the start, but we managed to get things going as the game progressed,” Murrieta Valley coach George Wilson said about the offense. “The guys were a little frustrated, but we started to look the way we normally do.”
Bachmeier passed for 269 yards and four touchdowns and also had a long TD run. Chatman ran for 174 yards on 16 carries and also had three catches for 95 yards.
“We came out flat, but we trust run another to go out an execute the way we need to,” said Chatman, who scored two touchdowns.
Roosevelt (5-1 overall) did rack up more than 460 yards Friday, but the Mustangs had four trips inside the red zone that yielded no points, three in the first half.
Roosevelt moved the ball into the red zone five times during the opening half, but the Mustangs left points on the field three times. Roosevelt watched two field goals sail wide of the uprights, and the Mustangs turned the ball over moments after reaching the Murrieta Valley 1.
Kayden Roberson gave Roosevelt a 3-0 lead when he kicked a 32-yard field goal early in the first quarter.
Murrieta Valley (5-1) answered back quickly, as Tiger Bachmeier returned the ensuing kickoff for 41 yards near midfield. Four plays later, the Bachmeier brothers connected for a 16-yard touchdown to give the Nighthawks a 6-3 advantage.
Roosevelt recovered a fumble late in the first quarter, and the Mustangs’ offense didn’t waste time in cashing in that mistake. Julian Viramontes found Andrew Marshall for a 46-yard completion, and Viramontes then scrambled 10 yards for a touchdown shown to put Roosevelt back on top.
Murrieta Valley scored on its next three possessions to take command of the game. Chatman took a swing pass from Bear Bachmeier and raced up the sidelines for a 61-yard touchdown that helped the Nighthawks regain the lead.