Desert Valley Blitz
Welcome to Desert Valley Blitz – the podcast dedicated to spotlighting our local tackle football scene. From the youth leagues to Friday night lights and everything in between, we’re bringing you the stories, players, and coaches that make the desert gridiron special.
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Desert Valley Blitz
Ep#13-A Wild First Round Sets Up High-Stakes Road Tests
A halftime gamble changed everything. From Banning’s aerial clinic to Coachella Valley’s three-safety adjustment that flipped the night, we watched a playoff slate where courage, timing, and one or two swing plays separated joy from heartbreak. Five desert programs are still alive, and the road ahead is loaded with long bus rides, tough draws, and real chances to crash the semifinals.
We start with the statement wins. Palm Springs shrugged off an early punch and rolled past Claremont behind a balanced plan, a sharp night from Bishop Miller, and Koa wrecking shop with two strip-sacks as Coach Brown moved him around to disrupt timing. That sets up a marquee home clash with Hart, a tradition-rich team with a balanced attack and a D1-level receiver. We break down how disguises, sub-package pressure, and controlled drives can tilt it for the Indians.
Palm Desert pounded Marina 31–7 with its familiar identity—run fits, leverage, and discipline. The AJ Rivera injury watch is real, but Perez kept the offense steady in relief. Next is 10–1 Patriot and a pair of backs who can test gap integrity. If the Aztecs win first down and keep the ball off the turf, their defense gives them a path on the road.
Shadow Hills looked ruthless in a 37–0 shutout, jumping early and turning it into a sprint their receivers loved. Baldwin Park can score but leaks under pressure—expect the Knights to bring heat and force mistakes. In Division 12, Yucca Valley’s offense is humming again after a 43–17 win, while Coachella Valley heads to Perris to face a hot sophomore quarterback and a team that just dropped 50 in their opener. Both games smell like shootouts where special teams and turnovers decide margins. If results line up, a Yucca vs Coachella semifinal delivers the desert showcase everyone wants.
We also spotlight programs on the rise: Banning’s leap from 1–9 to a problem for 2026, DCA’s 10–0 regular season with 18 returning starters, and Desert Hot Springs’ steady playoff baseline. The valley is deeper, better coached, and scheduling smarter, and it’s showing when the lights are brightest.
Ride with us through Round 2. Tap follow, share with a fellow fan, and leave a quick review to help more valley football diehards find the show. Who’s your pick to reach the semifinals?
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Welcome back, everybody, to Desert Valley Blitz. This is our week 12 wrap-up. We're already into the playoffs, into the second round. Very exciting times. Five teams in the desert. Still, still alive, coach, and we'll get to that in the next section.
SPEAKER_00:We got a real chance to have a desert team go far, far into the playoffs. Maybe finals maybe win it all. I like our chances this year. One of them. One of them.
SPEAKER_02:And it has to be said, four of the five coaches that are still coaching came on the show. So I think we're a good luck charm. So everybody else out there, you better take note, man. Yeah, four out of the five guys that are still coaching or came talk to us. So I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, you know, get that desert, but we just might be lucky.
SPEAKER_00:That desert blitz magic.
SPEAKER_02:That's it, man. That's it. So we're gonna start this week with the game that we attended and Coach Josh's game of the week.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh Banning hosted Coachella Valley. And man, what a scene out there in Banning, huh, Coach?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it was nice. They had some good barbecue, had a Diet Coke. Um, I was happy, man.
SPEAKER_02:It was a beautiful stadium. I had not been out to Banning in years. Um, and they that's that field, that stadium. It was beautiful.
SPEAKER_00:It was like a small college almost. It was nice.
SPEAKER_02:It was beautiful. I think the school's brand new. Um, Coach Jake and the AD out there, we wanted to thank you guys for opening the doors for us to come out there and cover your team and your kids. Yeah, and man, what what a team that Banning had, huh?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I was just so impressed. Uh from the quarterback, um, Jacob Anzadua, he was throwing ball all over the field. I mean, he made every big throw that you can make uh uh on a football field. I mean, he was throwing quick outs, um uh hitches, outs, corner routes. Um, but I like the way he was throwing that slant. He was almost throwing it two windows over, so he that time in on the receiver was going to catch it on the run, and they kept running. Um, he he just has an arm, man. He he can make all the throws. I was super impressed with him. Um so much so. And then the other takeaway from the game is uh Coachella, you know, they had their hands full that first half. They were losing 28 by or you know, Banning put 28 on them and they come out in the second half, and it was a ballsy schematic. They came up, they they put three safeties, they manned it across on the receivers and two linemen. So they ran a 20. Um, and it worked. And it worked, it worked, it worked. It he stem the tide on the offensive. The quarterback was starting to, those windows weren't there. They're playing man, they got three safeties. They were dropping nine, coach. I know, and so you got to run, right? So they were running, but they're they were running counter, and there's no DN to kick out, so it was kind of spilling outside more than it should. And there's a bunch of DBs out there that were just tackling them. I would attacked it straight on, you know, some type of quarterback draw or or something, you know, but they didn't do it. They they kept kept trying to pass, and this is how good the quarterback is. He scored against that. He scored against what do you call that? Three man under. I mean marched him down through the passing game against and he scored one more in the in the half, but it wasn't enough. It got close, but yeah, man, what a competitor he was.
SPEAKER_02:And it's and it was a kind of a game of fluky things, if you remember. The first score of Coachella was on an interception by Coachella. Remember?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that might have been the play of the game. Camaro rips the ball from kind of big brothers.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he rips the ball from the receiver and takes it the other way. Yeah, and that's the first score for Coachella. So it was kind of a bizarre, it was a bizarre start. It was a pick.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Banning picked it. I was like, oh, and then uh Ivan runs up and just rips the ball off, and then he goes the other way. And that that might have been the game.
SPEAKER_02:That is the end, that is the difference. That's I play right there. Yeah, I mean, so it was a bizarre game. Banning first half looked unstoppable. Yeah, they were moving. That offense was beautifully coached, beautifully game plan was beautiful. They attacked Coachella all in the right windows.
SPEAKER_00:I kept hearing about it and hearing about it. It was just so nice to see it, you know, up close and in person just to see how how his timing was. It was it was awesome.
SPEAKER_02:And I mean, he has weapons all over the field. Yeah. Uh 16, the receiver, uh Jamari. Was it Garlington? Garlington. Yeah, that guy, that guy is a legit football player. Like he's not the biggest guy in the world. Makes all the plays. When he touches the ball, it's electric. And then even on defense, even on defense, he's coming in. He was taking Camargo out, and Camargo is 220 pounds, and he was coming down and just making beautiful tackles and and actually getting them on the ground. He knows what it's supposed to look like. So I mean, Banning was ultra impressive in that first half. I I thought, you know, thinking seeing that first half, that there was no way that Coachella was going to be able to slow them down. But shout out to Coach Escobel who that decent for the coordinator at Coachella, he came out with a little mad scientist move. That's something that I haven't really seen. And uh number eight for Coachella, I think, is the player of the game on the defensive side. Sebastian Castillo? Yeah, because when they did rush two, he was still getting he was still getting pressure.
SPEAKER_00:He was, he was. They couldn't block him at all, even with five guys. It was impressive, man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so it was shout out to that guy, man. He he he definitely was the player of the game on defense for Coachella.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, Coachella's coaching staff did good. They got their kids. Um, so it's hard to like put in a scheme at the like in the middle of the game like that. You gotta like teach it to the kids, the kids got to execute it. Um and and they did all of that. So it was a combination of that, uh, kids making plays, coaching, coaching their butts off. So um it was a good win from for Coachella 100%.
SPEAKER_02:But I'm I left being very impressed with banning. So it's officially, I think it's official to say that the Desert Valley Blitz team is on the banning bandwagon. Send us some gear. So we can all those guys, all most of the main players are coming back, and hearing from some of the people in the program, some of their best players are hurt, so they didn't even have their full complement of players out there. Quarterback next year, next year could be scary. So we're officially we're officially next year gonna be adding banning to the teams that we're gonna be covering. So because I think it just for the fun of it, too, to kind of watch that team grow. It's it's it's very impressive from what they've done over there, coaching. He's it's an ascending program. They've they we're talking to the 80 a little bit. They were one and nine two years ago. Wow, so they're and they're right on the cusp of something special at Banning High School on the football program. So shout out to those guys. I mean, they got a ton of young talent. Uh, this kid named JJ Moreno on the defensive side. All over the place. All over the he was making every tackle. And so, and he's a sophomore. So you know, shout out to that that guy. Not supposed to be that good when you're talking about it. It's a natural out there. And I I talked to his dad because I know his dad, he's a he's a Rajah. Shout out to Johnny Moreno, old Raja. Shout out Old Rajah, great, but he's first year he's ever played defense. And it seemed like he was in every tackle. He was a natural tackle of the game. So he was just he's it's a natural. So it's only gonna get better for banning. We're officially on the bandwagon. Yeah, but uh Coachella Coachella escapes with the win, but banning left us pretty impressed, right? Great game.
SPEAKER_00:It was one of the best games I saw this year.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, both sides was it was awesome. Well, it's well coached on both sides. The players played their butts off, and it's just that that three points go.
SPEAKER_00:CIS playoffs. Yeah, that's you you called it, yo.
SPEAKER_02:That's gonna that's gonna change the game, and it did. That three points was a difference. So great game. Awesome. Shout out to Banning High School, they were great hosts. Thanks for having me. We definitely want to come back next year when you guys get going again because I want to see that that that offense and some of your young talent develop.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, when you get a quarterback that good, man, it's it's fun to watch.
SPEAKER_02:It was beautiful. So shout out to Banning High School, Coach Jake, and everybody over there. We had a great time. We're officially we're officially on the bandwagon. Yeah, and uh we're looking for good things. Um, Coachella moves on to the second round. Shout out to the Arabs, um, and we'll talk about the second round matchup more in this in the next segment. Um, moving on to uh some other valley games, first round. So our number one seed in the valley is Palm Springs, there's a number one seed in Division 7. They have a home game against Claremont. Final score, Palm Springs 33, Claremont seven. Yeah, so did you get the chance to check out any of this?
SPEAKER_00:Um, I didn't get to see any. I heard uh they did a lot of the damage to the run game. Um they didn't really uh need Bishop, but he he he still made his plays. Oh, yeah. He had some nice, like four or five nice completions, just did his part. Right. Um Covra Polo, I heard was a menace on the ground. Just you know, he's probably a menace everywhere, of course. Yeah, the guy's everywhere. Yeah, so um it's just so good to see them. You know, their division seven's pretty pretty up there, and they they handled that that uh game pretty easily. So it's fun to see.
SPEAKER_02:I got to watch film on this game. Claremont's a big football team. I yeah, they look they look they were definitely bigger than than Palm Springs up front, which is gonna be the case as we move forward as the teams go over the hill. That's usually the case for our teams. But um, and they went down the field and scored on the first drive. So it looked like, uh oh, you know, these guys came to play. Um, but Palm Springs gets the ball back. Bishop Miller gets them down there, Koa's running, he's throwing. Immediately, they immediately go answer it.
SPEAKER_00:And then um sounded like they made an adjustment on the defensive side.
SPEAKER_02:A couple adjustments on the defensive side, but the offense looked after after you know that first drive, the offense looked great. I mean, Coach Gore had had a brilliant game plan. They were mixing it up, passing running. It wasn't just all Koa. They have uh they have another guy that's kind of stepped up into the role and running back. You know, Tank was a little bit banged up, so they're not playing him as much in offense.
SPEAKER_00:I love that when people step up.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, Marcus Kennedy, a sophomore, and I saw him in the backfield, so I had to kind of reach out to my sources. He did a really good job for them. He's not Koa, he's not tank, he's not gonna, you know, he's not gonna run people over like Ko. He's not gonna run away from people like Tank, but he he's a good, he's a good back who get in there and mix it up and give you, you know, five, ten yards on a run. That's all you need. And he gets and it also gives Koa and Tank time to rest for defense. Going two ways. And you could see it on defense. Those guys were Koa was flying around. Um, and and that guy, so that guy, that guy, um Kennedy was a was a big part. He didn't have a ton of big plays, but just his presence alone, like back there having a suitable back to kind of feel that they've got another weapon over there. And according to my sources, there he's only a sophomore. Wow, so they got some they got some uh more kids coming up through Palm Spring. But so Palm Springs kind of dominated there after that first score. Um second half was an all-koa show, man. That guy had two uh sacks for fumble, two strip sacks, yeah, one of them for a touchdown. And he the other one he ran for about 50 yards the other way. So he kind of ended the game by himself. They they're starting to mix, yeah, and and Coach Brown's starting to move him around a little bit. So, like on the nickel and dime situations, he has Koa rushing now. And from that end spot, and boy, did that pay dividends. Yeah. Because that kid was all over the place.
SPEAKER_00:Takes away the timing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So and then the second half was just another brilliant kind of performance by Bishop Miller. He kind of had the offense moving at all. He'd make the play when he needed to, and then he'd get them into the right place.
SPEAKER_00:So it feels like I haven't seen a Palm Springs game lately. I gotta get up there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. Hopefully we we get to see them soon because they're they look like they're playing really good football right now. So I think that one outside of one half of football, they've been pretty perfect throughout the year, and you're starting to see some results. They got a tough matchup coming this week, but yeah, they look good, man. Palm Springs is definitely clicking on all cylinders from what I saw. So that's awesome. Yeah, so we're we're excited. Round two for the Indians. That's a big win. Yeah, and they got a tough one coming up. Any game now is gonna be tough. Um, but especially in division seven, there's gonna be no easy matchups. But they took care of business. They could cut Koa and and the boys, and they took it. So good to see. They took care of business. So we're excited. Hopefully, we'll we'll see them this weekend um coming up. Um, and then moving on to Division Eight, Palm Desert 31 Marina 7. So another uh Palm Desert score, kind of what we were expecting, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, sounded like it was they were run first and Palm Desert knows how to stop that run, man. And they implemented a similar game uh defensive strategy they that they used against Lakinta and they shut them down, man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it seems like this team kind of played into Palm Desert's hands a bit. So they kind of, you know, Palm Desert kind of got off to a slow start offensively. Um just Marina was pretty good on defense, as most, you know, a team from Orange County that's playing in the playoffs are gonna be probably pretty good somewhere. Yeah, yeah, it's playoffs. It's playoffs, so you're not getting no no easy matchups, but um Palm Desert seemed to fit kind of figure them out and kind of moving the ball. Um I know they were running the ball a little bit more this time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um that's when they're the they do the most damage when they get that running game going. Mixed in with their passing and screen game, um, they're hard to beat.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think even Jonah Tolin had a running, rushing touchdown in the first half. Um, so Pondazer kind of pulls away second half their defense. You know, they they they they kind of played in their hands playing Laquinta, kind of got them prepared for this team, apparently. The big storyline from this game moving forward is uh AJ Rivera's health. Um he did leave the game in the second quarter. Did not return. Uh backup came in. I think Perez, I believe is his name. He did a great job. Four for five, I heard. Yeah, he he did a great job just controlling the offense, getting them into the right state. Which is awesome to see.
SPEAKER_00:It's always, especially in the playoffs today.
SPEAKER_02:So he might be having to get ready to go this week uh and a much tougher opponent, obviously. Uh, we don't know the status of AJ. I'm sure some ice on it. Yeah, day to day. You know, and well, I'm sure if he can go, he will go. He's a senior. This is his last run at the playoffs. So um, but we're all you know praying that he's okay and ready to go. Because you know, that that guy deserves to finish out the season. What he what he's done this year has been pretty good. Pretty sure how well they're playing right now. Yeah, so another another big test coming up for them. Coach 40 will have them ready. I know uh Coach Forty was kind of hoping for a home playoff game, but the second one didn't really kind of work out like that, so they'll be on the road and we'll kind of talk about that. But Palm Desert moves on as kind of expected. Good job, Palm Desert. Yeah, they're peeking at the right time. 31-7. It's not really close. And that's on to the next. On to the next. Moving on to division, staying in division eight. Yeah, your Lakinta Blackhawks on Thursday night go down to Fullerton Union High School. Final score 38, Lakinta 21. I know you watched this game. What did you see?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it was a fun game to watch. They they traded blows back and forth. Both um offenses uh were moving the ball primarily through the run. Um Fullerton uh runs it a little different than La Quinta, but they were still trading blows. It was touchdown, touchdown, and then I think the big difference is right before the half. Lakinta, um, I can't remember if it's a pick or uh fumble, but Fullerton gets the ball, scores, and then uh La Quinta gets the ball back. There's like a minute 30 in the in the half, and they went for some type of read option, they fumbled again. Uh Fullerton picked it up and they scored again before the half. So back-to-back touchdowns right before the half. And um that's the difference. Yeah. Second half came around, they traded blows again, but it was kind of just too late.
SPEAKER_02:So especially with the running offense.
SPEAKER_00:Both offenses were humming.
SPEAKER_02:So they were just running the clock, four-minute drill, just eating it up.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Game was over quick. So it was turnovers basically. Yeah. I mean mistakes. If you don't, if you're in the playoffs, you're turning the ball over, especially turning the ball over, leading to scores. Yeah, that's gonna be the end of your season.
SPEAKER_00:Especially back to back. There's something about the momentum that just happens, you're like, ah, yeah, you gotta dig yourself out, and it was tough.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, momentum is real fickle, man, though. Jump sides on your roof. Full can look good, though. They're a good football team. Yeah, I mean, and it's it's a tough draw for Lequinta. I mean, just getting on the bus and driving for two hours. They try and get the kids ready to play at their top level after that is not the easiest thing to do.
SPEAKER_00:They did get Simon Simonian back. Um, I think I even saw uh Rubrik. Yeah, Slim. Slim was out there, touched the ball a couple times. Uh he made some good runs too. And I was like, man. Slim's back. But it's been nice to have that all year.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I mean, what could have been for Laquinta, right? I mean, you guys injuries crept up on that season. I mean, Lakinta's probably just as talented as anybody, but the injuries to their top line players at some point's gonna catch up to you. Gotta be healthy. Coach Ruiz did a great job holding it together, but you lose top line like stars like at this level, you know, Slim doesn't touch the ball until the playoff game. That that guy could easily change your season just by him being there. 100%. Um, you know, it's football. It's uh that's life, and that's that's football. The injuries are are gonna catch up to you at some point.
SPEAKER_00:They did a good job, though, having that next man mentality all year. No, they did a great job, Coach Reese.
SPEAKER_02:Shout out to you guys. You guys did a great job. Lakinta had a great season. Um, didn't end big wins. Yeah, it didn't end the way you wanted it to, but it usually never does. It usually never does, right? Unless you're holding that trophy.
SPEAKER_00:I always say the only people happy at the end of the year are the champions.
SPEAKER_02:Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:Everybody else loses at some point. Everybody has that that ick feeling of oh man, but except the guy that wins it all at the end.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, so that's that's life and that's football. But uh great season for the Blackhawks. Fantastic. They have a young core coming back. I know they got they've got some pretty good athletes coming into the program and some guys on the lower level.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so the future's bright.
SPEAKER_02:The future's bright. Lakinta's stacking their talent just like uh the rest of the rest of the teams in the DEL. They're gonna be fine. Yeah. Um, it's a tough way to go out, but hey, you know, it's it was it was a good season. It was fun. We're all a good season.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I really enjoyed covering the team, like just following them and seeing a lot. I watched a lot of their games. It was it was fun football to watch.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So hats off to them. Good job, Lakinta.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they'll be back. Blackhawks will be back. They always are. So moving on, we're gonna move on to Division 11, our other DEL team still standing. Shadow Hills 37, Yoruba Hills zero, man.
SPEAKER_00:Isn't even a challenge.
SPEAKER_02:Wasn't close. First round games, usually you get you know a little bit of a challenge.
SPEAKER_00:They got a nice seating coach.
SPEAKER_02:I think Shadow Hills is priming up for a run here. We don't want to jinx it. We'll knock on wood, but um, what did you what'd you kind of find out about this game?
SPEAKER_00:Um, I I actually I didn't get to see it, but it it sounded like they, you know, dominated on offense and defense. Um uh got that passing game going. Quarterback had a really good game. Yeah. Um yeah, I just I didn't get to see it, but um sounds like they did their thing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, from what I read and the things I saw, they kind of jumped out early, and it was the Europa Hills is a running team, so they got kind of behind early. Yeah, it's tough. Shadow jumped all over them, and it was basically, you know, it was it was a track meet for Shadow Hills and Europa Hills, you know, once they get if they're a running team, they get behind like that, they're in a position where they don't really feel comfortable throwing the ball around, and then Shadow Hills kind of jumped all over them. So an easy, an easy win at home for Shadow Hills in the first round, which is always a nice thing because it kind of does a team. And you can kind of rest your guys in the second half a little bit, preserve your health because health is gonna be a big thing moving forward.
SPEAKER_00:Season gets long.
SPEAKER_02:Everybody's banged up right now, so the more health you can kind of save, the better. So Shadow Hills, that receiving core did their thing. I know Reef had a couple had a touchdown, um Peppers had a couple as a touchdown as well. So um, you know, they're just they're Shadow Hills, man. Yeah, and like you said, they've got a good draw.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So and they're a good football team. So that could that could pay some dividends moving on to the next round.
SPEAKER_01:That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02:They got a tough matchup coming up, but we'll uh talk about that in the next segment. Um, so pretty, pretty convincing win, though. They had the easiest, the easiest win out of everybody in the valley. Good job. Um, moving on to Division 12. So here's Division 12 or all of our this is the desert bracket. This was the division. This is the division that everybody kind of been talking about in our circle because we got four teams. Um, first game, Yucca Valley 43, Costa Mesa 17, and I heard it wasn't really even that close.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, Aiden had a couple touchdowns.
SPEAKER_02:Aiden Aiden Pope had three touchdowns. Yucca Valley jumped all over him early. I believe uh Costa Mesa scored late to kind of make the game a little closer, but uh Aiden had three, uh King had uh over 100 yards rushing in a touchdown. Seems like Yucca Valley's back to Yucca Valley. That offense is humming.
SPEAKER_00:Um it's nice when that first round of the playoffs, it's nice to have an easy win, man. That's that's a pretty good feeling.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, according to somebody that I know at the game said it the closest it was is when uh the Costa Mesa got off the bus. So it wasn't that close.
SPEAKER_00:I've been to those type of games.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it wasn't that close. Uh Costa Mesa didn't really show up till the second half, they said. And Yucca looked great. So Yucca moves on. We're excited to see how far that team can they're in the number one seed in Division 12. So you know they're they're looking to make a run as well. They and once again, second round, no easy games, man. They got another tough one, they'll be on the road. Um, but the the Trojans did their thing, get to the second round. So they they're the number one seeded in the in division twelve, yeah. So they they they're gonna get it.
SPEAKER_00:But Coachella beat on?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's just the way the way it works, huh? Hey, the algorithm, man. Yeah, they had a much better record than Coachella, too. And they played a tough non-league schedule. They played some tough teams. And I think they kind of kind of look into that game and hearing what the their coach had to say that the tough league out of the league schedule made it. So they were prepared for these games. I guess in the past they hadn't been prepared for playoffs because they played, you know, cupcakes in the first first five games.
SPEAKER_00:We talked about that earlier the preseason.
SPEAKER_02:There's an art to scheduling those games. Yeah, there's a reason you want to get a good good team on that schedule, you know. You gotta you gotta get battle tested for uh for playoffs. Not just league. Uh-uh. So yucca, they look good. We got we're happy they're still around to cover, and yeah, we'll be looking forward to next week. Um, and then moving on, so division twelve. We already talked about Coachella 38, 30, uh, 35 over banning. Great game. Uh the arrows move on. And then the other game in Division 12, my Desert Christian Academy Conquerors. So take on a Royal Valley in 8-2 teams. This was a big step up in competition.
SPEAKER_00:Still still went blow to blow with that.
SPEAKER_02:Uh so a Royal Valley in final score, Royal Valley 26, Desert Christian 24. So they're get they're get handed their first loss in the first round of the playoffs. I did um I did some research on this game. I I talked to a couple of my uh contacts over at Desert Christian, uh, Coach Ernie, shout out to you, the offensive coordinator over there, wanted to kind of see what they were feeling like. And Desert Christian had, even though they he said they didn't play their best game, they made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes. Um and and Oroyal Valley was not the best matchup for them because they run the duck the wing, the they run the wing T. So they're gonna run the ball, keep the defense off the field. And I guess they did a masterful job of that um in the first half, kind of chewing up that clock. But even with that said, uh Desert Christian did have the lead. Uh they'd have the lead going into halftime. Um Royal Valley made a nice little comeback. They had a couple nice backs that really gave the conquerors gave them some trouble. Um but even with all that said and done, the final two possessions, um, Desert Christian gets down to the goal line. First one, uh, this this DB. I saw I saw a video of it too. This DB just made it from Royal Valley, made a great play.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:He kind of he kind of stumbled and the guy was open, and uh the uh quarterback tried to get it to him, and the DB just jumped up out of nowhere. Was it an out? Like it was. Yeah, he was out out like out in the end zone, and the guy just jumped it, like he got up off the ground. Yeah, he got underneath it and got a pick. It was it was a great play. If you see it, you'll see it. It's online somewhere. I know I saw it. So that was their first opportunity to take the lead with about uh four minutes left. Defense comes out, gets a stop, and then Desert Christian gets the ball back again. They march it. They march it down, man. They march it down there, get it right to right on the cusp, and then they're out of time. So they got to kick a field goal to try and win the game. And unfortunately, the the kick, the the ball was not really in the middle of the field, it was on the hash. Yeah, and that's a tough kick, man. I don't care who you are, it's playoffs.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, when you get close and it's really wide, it's even harder. It was close, if you can.
SPEAKER_02:And the kid tried to try to kind of overcompensate for it, and he he missed it a left, and that was all she wrote. Time went out, and a Royal Valley celebrating on the field. So what a great year, though, they had. And a great game. I mean, that I know like that kid will take some take some heat for missing that kick, but there's never one play that loses one. He made one earlier, yeah. Exactly. It's never all on one play. It's a team sport. There's hundreds of plays throughout the game. Yeah, you can't always just point it to one. So that being said, Desert Christian had a great year.
SPEAKER_00:Fantastic year. It was fun.
SPEAKER_02:And talking to their coaching staff, they've got 18 of 22 starters coming back next year. So the future is bright. I don't think they've scratched the surface over there. They're just getting started. They're kind of just getting started, and a majority of those starters are sophomores and freshmen.
SPEAKER_00:Kind of like a banning, like what we saw banning.
SPEAKER_02:So those are yeah, that's another team that we're gonna be following pretty closely just because you know they think that the future is gonna be way brighter. It'll be interesting to see what league they go to.
SPEAKER_00:I was just gonna say that'd be nice to get them in that the the big league they're gonna have.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, because I think they can they can do some damage in that league at this point. You know, uh maybe not starting the DEL bracket because come into the Super League next year, but they could they could definitely compete with DVL teams and they've shown they can beat SVL teams already. So I think uh well that's something that they'll probably have to discuss going forward. I think they're that's maybe part of the plan. It'd be fun to watch, so and I yeah, and I think that that that's a natural progression of things, but we'll you know that's above our pay grade. Yeah, but we'd like to see it as a fan. Yeah, as a fan, I'd like to see Desert Christian line up against the Indios and the Cat Cities and uh, you know, maybe a yucca or a CV here and there. You know, that'd be a fun that'd be a fun game. So um, but shout out to the the Conkers, man. They had they had the only undefeated uh regular season in the Valley.
SPEAKER_00:10 0.
SPEAKER_02:Great season, Coach Johnson. We've talked about that for a long time. Coach Johnson in his first year full-time as a head coach at DCA, 10-0. I mean, can't do much better than that.
SPEAKER_00:Armstrong Tree, baby.
SPEAKER_02:Right, and he is he is from the Armstrong Tree. So shout out to Coach Johnson and DCA Conkers. They'll be back. You got a great season. We're big fans. Yeah, we'll be following you guys next year. Um, you guys, the the future's bright over there at DCA. So um that's it for Division 12. And then lastly, our Division 13 matchup, our Golden Eagles, man. They go to Woodbridge of Irvine and come up a little short on the road. They didn't have that golden eagle magic this time. Woodbridge 28, Desert Hot Springs 13, so they're gonna close out their year. Um, but another fantastic year for Desert Hot Springs, right?
SPEAKER_00:Played some good football, yeah. Um, had some good wins, a lot of good successes, just fell short in the end.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and Coach P, he'll always have those guys ready to go. He's done such a good job there, done a great job there, um, taking over and all-time winning coach at the school. He broke that record this year. Um, I know they have some young talent on that Desert Hot Springs team, so they'll be back as well. Golden Eagles had another phenomenal year. I mean, they're perennial like playoff team that as of now, right? They've made the playoffs a couple years in a row now. It's kind of safe to assume that they're gonna make the playoffs every year.
SPEAKER_00:So there's just a couple uh it's a good football environment up there. I I've gone to a couple games up there. It's it's nice. They do it right. They do it right. I hear they got the best food, but that's I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:Banning banning might get them on that one. That barbecue was nice. The food was pretty good at banning, I gotta say. Um, but shout out to the Golden Eagles. They um they close out their season. They had a great season, make the playoffs. Got a tough, honestly, a tough draw going all the way out to Irvine, their first game. It's a long, long trip. Yeah, I'm sure that plays into it. Um, but they're gonna be back. Golden Eagles, great season. We'll be following you guys all offseason, ready to cover you guys next year. Back in the weight room. That's it, man. Off season starts today. So that's gonna do it for the week 12 wrap-up. We're gonna go ahead and preview round two of the playoffs. We got five teams left. We got some good ones coming up. And we got some tough games coming up. We're gonna speak to those in the next segment, right after we're from our sponsors. Looking to upgrade your home? Tile Designs by Fina is your one-stop destination for beautiful flooring, hard surfaces, and countertops. From timeless design, modern styles, they've got the perfect look for every room. Stop by today and transform your space with Tile Designs by Fina. Let's design together. Tired of payroll headaches? iPay Solutions is your local payroll and HR partner right here in the Coachella Valley. From direct deposits to compliance, we handle the details so you can focus on growing your business. iPay Solutions, local, reliable, and built for your success.
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SPEAKER_02:Welcome back, everybody, to Desert Valley Blitz. We're gonna kinda move on to our week 13. Yeah, second round of the playoffs preview show. Um, Coach Josh, what is your game of the week? We only got five to choose from. We're getting less candidates, but what do you think in this?
SPEAKER_00:It's gotta be Palm Springs Heart. I mean, I grew up I didn't grow up, but just a few years ago, I just always seen them on TV. I think it was like Fox number two, or you know, the second Fox channel. I I watched Hart all the time. They was always on TV, and I just can't believe they're coming into town and playing Palm Springs.
SPEAKER_02:So that's awesome for us old cats. Heart used to be a program that was a perennial like powerhouse.
SPEAKER_00:Even like 2019, they would they made a run. I think they got to the finals. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:In the state. On the state side, on the state level, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. So they they're a good football team.
SPEAKER_02:It's a good program. Good program, good traditional program.
SPEAKER_00:I think they stumbled a couple recent a couple years recently, but they're on the way up again.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah. So they're eight and three. Um lot of tradition there. Coming off a heart's coming off a win last week in the first round over Mayfair, which is uh which is a school in um the LA area, 52 to 24, not close.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, they're pretty balanced too, run and pass.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they run, they've got some guys. I I know they got a receiver that's a D1 uh recruit. He's a junior. So he's gonna be somebody that Pom Spring's definitely gonna have to know where to be. But Pom Spring's got got you know some some recruits too, man. They got some dudes too. Um Cole Rapost might be one of the best uh linebackers in the southern section. At least he's in the he's in the conversation as he's gotta be on that all CIF team. He's he put on a show that that's a fantastic football player, man. I mean, he he single handedly created two touchdowns off of. Defense.
SPEAKER_00:Everything you want in a football player. Yeah. Um, he's got it.
SPEAKER_02:So, so I mean, Pond Spring's got some guys too. They're at home. Bishop Miller will have them that offense. The offense looked very balanced last week. That's what you want. One amp pass. They've got they've got a couple guys that are contributing a little bit more, a couple young guys coming in and contributing a little bit more. Coach Brown will have that defense ready. They'll be ready, man. They'll be ready. Yeah, it's gonna be a good game. Hart, uh a traditional Simi Valley uh power coming all the way. That's a long bus ride, too. You can't you got to factor that into the equation, too. That's a that's far. That's a good two and a half two and a half hour, three hour bus ride to get to the game. So hope you don't hit traffic. And you gotta leave early. Yeah. Maybe they even come out here the day before. I don't know. They got money like that. Pretty far. It's pretty far. They're probably gonna have to leave around noon, I would imagine. One or one o'clock noon, just to make it past traffic and plan for that. So that's a long day. So advantage Palm Springs on that one. We just palm springs just got to show up to their locker room and get ready to play. Um, but they're gonna end their handsful. Any any game this time of year is not gonna be an easy task.
SPEAKER_01:No.
SPEAKER_02:So and Hart's gonna Hart has a couple guys. Uh I know they got a receiver. They they they're a pretty balanced team looking at their uh stats. Quarterback's pretty good. Quarterback's pretty good. They're they're a solid football team. Um, eight and three overall record, so no slouch.
SPEAKER_00:So is Palm Springs.
SPEAKER_02:Palm Springs, Palm Springs outside of one half is basically undefeated. So we're we're pulling for the Indians big time. I think this is the year Indians can make a run. I know it's the toughest division, but hey, we like a challenge, and I think Palm Springs is the team to do it. They're the they're the they're the they're the value, they've been the best Valley team, I think, from top to bottom. Yeah, and and I think it's being shown now here in the playoffs. So game of the week. We're expecting them to get to the semifinals. So we're gonna be out there cheering on the Indians. If anybody else is in the Palm Springs area on Friday night, come on and see a show, man. Um, Rapoa, Miller, uh, Tanksmith, all these guys are gonna put on a show for you guys. So we'll be out there. So game of the week, Palm Springs, heart. Yeah, 100%. Second second semifinals on the line.
SPEAKER_00:The other games are good too, but that's just the one I got. Yeah, looking at I'm like, oh, that's gonna be fun.
SPEAKER_02:It's gonna be fun. Um moving on. So Palm Desert, our next highly the next highest seeded team in the valley is going to Patriot, which is in Jerupa, Jarupa Hills.
SPEAKER_00:To football team. 10 and 1. Yeah. They were the ones that they scored 50 on Shadow Hills. They went back and forth. It was a heartbreaking loss for Shadow, but um, yeah, good football team.
SPEAKER_02:Shadow Hills couldn't stop them, couldn't stop their run game.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, and Shadow Hills is a good defense. I think we've seen the rest of their results. They're a pretty good defense, a good football team.
SPEAKER_00:Palmer does a good job getting those guys ready. Has um, you know, he's like that. We brought him in here, and he you can just tell he loves defense, man.
SPEAKER_02:So he's a defensive mind, and he had a hard time stopping this team. But on the flip side, this team does seem like they're a running team. They have two backs that average over 100 yards. So they look like they've got two really stellar backs, but that kind of plays into Palm Desert's hands.
SPEAKER_00:Palm Desert can stop that run.
SPEAKER_02:Defensively, that plays right into Palm Desert's strength because they're the best in the valley, probably at stopping the run.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, but then we hear AJ got hurt maybe. So that is a thing that's factor. Hopefully he's he's he's coming back healthy, and that's something to keep an eye on.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's definitely something we'll be looking out at because that's a big time, that's a big time factor in this game, if uh Rivera is healthy or not.
SPEAKER_00:And then the backup comes in, he does well. So I think he went four for five when he did throw. Um, so that's a good sign.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, uh, he's a pretty from what people have been telling me, he looked really good. Um but starting a quarterfinal game is a whole different ball of wax. Yeah, but Coach Forti, if it that's the way they gotta go, Coach Ford, get him ready. Next man up, next man up mentality. Um, you know, but Pondas is still should be probably favored in that game.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but it's gonna be tough. Yeah, it's gonna be tough, and you got like like we know in in playoff football, you can't make mistakes. You know, miss the one mistake at the wrong time, and you're going home. Gotta play your best ball right now. Yeah. And that's that's what everybody's shooting for. That's what coaches, that's why we preach to you. Try and be perfect. Because you want to be perfect in these situations. These moments. Yeah, in these situations when your your season's on the line.
SPEAKER_00:And you want to trust that guy next to you not to make mistakes. Yep, that's what it's all about. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So tough task for Palm Desert. Um, we'll keep an eye on the Rivera story. We're all hoping and praying he's he's healthy enough to go.
SPEAKER_00:I know if it's gonna hold you in at the time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and you only need a couple with that defense, right? I mean, but they'll they'll be tested though this week. Uh um Patriots 10 and 1 for a reason, and they got a great offense. They put up big numbers on offense. It'll be a good game. Good game. And that's what hey, that's what the quarterfinals are. I wish that was in town, too. That's all what the quarterfinals are about, though, man. Good games. Yeah. So let's go, Palm Desert. We'll be pulling for you. We want you to come back home so we can see you again to come back home and cover another home game. So it'll have to be Road Warriors this weekend.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, moving on to Shadow Hills matchup in Division 11. They're gonna be playing the Baldwin Park Braves, which is another at-large team, just like them. Okay. Another at-large team. Overall record six and five. So not a powerhouse. They played in a pretty good um, they're like they played against some pretty good teams, pretty good competition. And have a good league. They finished fifth in their league. Oh, so pretty good league. Um, watching film on them, they're they're kind of similar to Shadow Hills. They spread the ball out and they got athletes on the edges. Um defensively, seems where they might be be able to get got. They do give up, they give up some points looking at their scores. And Shadow could score. They're they're winning mostly shootouts. They they beat a team called Marinatha um 42-28 last week to get into this quarterfinals. Um and before that, they've been giving up about 30 points a game.
SPEAKER_00:So it looks like it could be a shootout if if I heard they struggle a little bit with the blitz, so that maybe might be something to keep an eye on.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, you know, Palmer have something dialed in. He likes his blitzes, he likes the blitz, man. That guy's bringing pressure, he'll have something dialed in. Um, but it's a game I think Shadow Hills will be favored on on paper. Yeah. Um, you know, like we said, I we think Shadow Hills might be the you know, top of that that bracket that they're in. But now they gotta go show it. It doesn't really mean anything on paper. You gotta go win these games, especially on the road.
SPEAKER_00:Gotta go out and execute and still win games.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and Baldwin Park is not close. I believe it's um, you know, it's about a two-hour drive.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So another getting on the bus. It's a long trip. That's always that's always a factor, guys. In high school football, those those bus trips, I could tell you from experience.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, those kids looking out the window for two hours, things driving up to the biggest.
SPEAKER_02:It's not easy to get them. Right, you gotta be a real good, have a lot of leadership on your team for that not to matter in in high school. So, you know, that that will be a factor. Um, but we are expecting Shadow Hills to continue on and be back home next week. Go get them, Shadow. Yeah, so um, Knights, let's do this, man. Let's let's bring it home, get to the semifinals. Um, moving on to Division 12. We have two teams left in Division 12. First team is a team we saw last week, the C Coachella Valley Arabs. They're gonna be going on the road again, man. They didn't they didn't get they didn't win the coin toss, apparently, because they're back on the road. They're gonna be playing the Paris, uh, Paris Panthers. Oh, Paris. Old Paris, man. Not not the new, not Citrus Hills Paris. This is new, this is old, old Paris. This is a Paris that I used to play against in the 90s. Um, always have athletes.
SPEAKER_00:Um, Paris Panthers are in the Pop Warner days they had to football.
SPEAKER_02:Even they they got they got guys. Um their overall record though is five and six, so they're kind of similar to um Coachella in the fact that they kind of lost some games early to some bigger schools, and then they even lost to uh Banning. Banning beat them early in the season in a close game. Um, but Banning did beat them. Um, but now it looks like they've kind of peaked and they're playing their best ball of the season. They went their first their first game in the playoffs. They went to Citrus Hills, which is like almost like a rivalry game because they're pretty close. That's just right down the street. Um, they took care of Citrus Hills, which is usually a pretty good football team, 51 to 22. So they put some points on. They got a sophomore quarterback at Paris that's uh been making some noise. He's uh he's gonna be trouble for the Arabs. He's a pretty good like two weeks in a row, the Arabs are playing some top-notch quarterbacks. The alien empire has some guys. So um this is this game to me. I mean, I I think people were saying that like C V should kind of be the favorites, but I don't know. I think this is kind of a coin toss. I think I think Paris is gonna, and it's on the road.
SPEAKER_00:So the banning the banning game was close. Banning game was close. So and the the Coachella banning game was also close, so it sounds like it's gonna be another close game.
SPEAKER_02:Another close game. Yeah, I think, and a lot of points scored. I think um Paris kind of has some similar scores to see Coachella Valley, where they they lean heavily on their offense. They're putting up uh about 35 points a game. Um, defense giving up 28. So it's um it's gonna be another Zivans can score. Yeah, it's gonna be another another barn burner in terms of the offensive firepower. Um, and it's just gonna come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes. Coachell is a pretty veteran that squad. Coach Johnson will have them ready to go on.
SPEAKER_00:Coaching staff, they'll be ready to go.
SPEAKER_02:Top notch hot top notch coaching staff. They'll have the kids ready. Uh, another challenge though. Um they're gonna they're gonna face some athletes. Just but the but the good thing is I think banning would probably be a good warm-up for that because banning had some guys too. Yeah, they had some guys. They had some guys that will give you give you nightmares as a DC out there trying to.
SPEAKER_00:I was looking around and like, geez, these guys got some got some guys that can play.
SPEAKER_02:So Coachella got another nice little test in front of them, Coach Johnson. We wish you good luck going on the road, come back home. We want to see you guys in the we want to see a semifinal between you and the next team we're gonna talk about. That'd be awesome. Yucca Valley Trojans. So if both of these teams win in Division 12, we'll have a we'll have a semifinal rematch.
SPEAKER_00:These guys are always playing each other, right? We won't get to it too.
SPEAKER_02:I know they can't get away from each other, man. These guys, these guys always, but you know, they got to take care of business first. And Yucca has a nice little task on their hands. They're going um all the way up to Simi Valley. Another another long bus ride, all the way up to play a team called Grace. Uh it's probably a private. Probably a private school, I would imagine, a small private school.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But they're 8-3 overall. 8-3 overall, and um, they've got a back uh number 14. Trying to find his name. He looks like he's gonna be a problem for Yucca. He might be the aiden Pope of their team because he seems like he's in every highlight I've seen, he's just busting a big one. Um, so they look like they they run the ball a little bit. Um not too much information. Let's see who they beat in the first round. They played Rialto, which is no pushover. Rialto has had a turnaround season. They beat Rialto in the first round 28-27, so a close game. One point. One point game, man. Just proves that they can they can win the close one. Win the close one. Um, but they they come out on top of that and all the way into the second round. So Yucca is technically the one seed. Um, so they should be favored. But, you know, like I said, going on the road, man, it's never an easy task. Um, looks like this team puts up a lot of points too, so it'll be pretty similar. They scored a couple of times in the 60s. Oh my yeah. So it's kind of similar, it's kind of similar styles looking at their offense and what I at least the little pieces I've seen, similar to they they spread, throwing the ball around. Um, probably gonna come down to who can get a stop usually when it's too often. When it's too offensive, powerhouse is just like defense that shows up. Like we saw last week in our game. The defense that that made the quick adjustment that could stop. Kids implemented it.
SPEAKER_01:It was awesome.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and you're never gonna totally slow these guys down, totally shut them out, but just slow them down. Yeah. So that's what'll be that's what probably be this game coming down to. But they got looking at film, they've got a couple guys uh gonna give Yucca some problems. But we're we're pulling for the Trojans. We want to see a C V That'd be awesome. A C V rematch. It's a good game when they played. Yucca Valley. Well, yeah, Yucca Valley came out a little flat. I think if they they play again, it's gonna be a different story. We were there. Yeah, it'll be a different story if they play, but we don't want to jinx it, so we're not gonna get there. But that that would be the matchup if they both can go on the road and get a victory. And that's something two desert teams. For for us, that's something that'd be like a a dream scenario. So we're gonna we're gonna be pulling for that, hoping that happens, but we'll wait to talk about it until we get there. So well, that's gonna do it, man. That's it. Week 13, man. How you how you feeling about the season so far? Uh huh.
SPEAKER_00:It's kind of sad it's getting close to to being over, but I'm excited for the team still playing. Um, it's always fun to keep playing this late in the season. And I remember my old coach used to always say, You always want to be playing around Thanksgiving. Yep, that's right. That's the old motto. I we have a good chance that multiple teams in the desert might be playing around Thanksgiving. Uh, I think that would be really cool. I know it's a ways away, but um I'm positive.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think we'll have a couple. I think we have we have a couple number one seeds. I think uh this week's probably gonna be our biggest test because everybody's away.
SPEAKER_00:Um so if there's any home games, get out there and support, man. These are big games for these kids. They're gonna remember these games for the rest of their lives.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, these are these are the games that the guy the guys will talk about when they're old, like us, and old and gray, and they're gonna remember when we played art at home. Yeah, they sure will. That's what this is all about.
SPEAKER_00:So remember that Paris game. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And remember, every every uh victory for the valley is is a vic every team from the valley that wins in these playoffs is is validation for the valley. For too long, teams have kind of disrespected us, and coaches have said they wanted to play us because we weren't that good in football. And I think people are now realizing, hey, they got some good teams. Yeah, you know what? There's some teams you don't want to play down there, yeah, because they're pretty good. So I think we're changing that mentality. We still got five teams left, which is amazing. Yeah, we're hoping to have a couple more left after next week, and the story continues. Let's do it. Let's do it. So we're looking forward to it. We're gonna be covering it. We'll be with you guys for the rest of the the season. So if you like that, like that episode, you found some value, you guys know the routine. Like, subscribe, and follow. And we'll see you next time on Desert Valley Blitz.