Paraclete owns the night with 37-13 win over visiting Valley Christian
Palmdale, CA – As Paraclete took the field for pregame warm-ups, an eerie chill descended upon Pete Knight Stadium. With a full moon hanging in the balance, one could easily say that the setting was right for the Spirits to rule the night.
After spotting Valley Christian a touchdown on their opening drive, Paraclete opened the floodgates, racking up 37 points over the first three quarters of play. The Crusaders tried valiantly to get back into the game, but the Spirits defense had other plans, as they literally cut them off at the pass. Valley Christian would add the last points of the game as time expired, but it was far too late. Paraclete won the lopsided affair 37-13, winning their second straight Olympic League crown and the school’s 14th overall league title.
The Crusaders opened the game, successfully moving the ball on their first possession. It would take the Spirits defense seven plays to catch on before shutting them down. Faced with a fourth and long situation on the Paraclete’s own 26-yard line, Valley Christian went to their bag of tricks. After giving the defense a look as if they were going to try for the first down, the Crusaders quickly shifted into a field goal formation. Then, holder Kevin Running took the snap, firing a pass to Matt Bynum for the early 7-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Kyland Warren put the Spirits in good position when he returned the ball 60 yards to the Crusaders 35-yard line. Taking the momentum from the electric return, the offense came in and setup shop. Quarterback Gabe Martinez would waste little time, as he hit Brandon Buteyn on a screen pass. Buteyn took the reception and raced down the sideline for the quick 35-yard strike, to tie it up at 7-7.
Even though Valley Christian would come right back to manufacture a big drive, the Spirits defense turned the Crusaders back again. After quarterback Kyle Cameron was sacked for a 10-yard loss, and a false start penalty on the next play, Valley was looking at third and long. The Spirits defense held strong on a crucial third down, forcing the visitors to punt.
Paraclete got the ball back at their own 20-yard line, after De Kruyf’s punt sailed into the endzone for a touchback. They started off by going to the ground, where Dante Donato and Buteyn got the Spirits up the 36. On the fourth play, Buteyn exploded for a 64-yard run to put PHS up 14-7.
The Spirits would get the ball back two minutes later, as Valley was forced to punt the ball away for the second consecutive time. Paraclete got off to a slow start on their third series, taking a holding penalty and only getting a small gain when Martinez hooked up with Andrew DeLaRosa. Facing second and long, Martinez hit Kyle Swanson on a screenplay. Swanson took off to the races, scoring from 83 yards out to extend the Spirits lead to 21-7.
Both teams traded series, until Paraclete got the ball back on their own 17-yard line, with just over four minutes to go in the first half. PHS started off with a big Buteyn run, followed by Martinez hitting Matt Cordova for another big pickup. After a couple of procedure penalties and blown plays, Martinez went back to the well. He hit Swanson for nine yards, which got the team within field goal range. With four seconds left, kicker Kyle Steffes setup for a 43-yard attempt. Valley would try to ice Steffes, but the junior came out after the timeout, nailing the kick to give Paraclete a 24-7 lead going into halftime.
As the teams returned, the Spirits setup to receive the ball. The Crusaders attempt to recoup the kickoff failed, when senior lineman Andrew Culver took the loose ball and rumbled back to their own 42-yard line. Riding a hot quarterback, Paraclete went back to the air. Martinez started the drive off with a 24-yard pass to Swanson. After mixing in a couple of runs, Martinez threaded a pass between defenders to hit Swanson again from seven yards out to make it 31-7.
After a Steffes touchback on the kickoff, Valley was backed-up against their own 20-yard line. The offense looked flat, as three consecutive Cameron passes fell short. Things got worse on the punt, as De Kruyf botched the kick, giving the Spirits the ball back on the Crusaders 28-yard line.
Paraclete’s offense turned to Donato, who broke free on the second play, to score from 23 yards out to put PHS up 37-7. Freshman kicker Cody Gardner appeared to have made the extra point with ease, but the officials waved it off.
From there, the Spirits defense continued to badger Cameron and Crusaders, as they intercepted and sacked the quarterback multiple times to the point of frustration.
As Paraclete moved into the fourth quarter, the coaching staff began to rotate their hardworking reserve players into the game on both sides of the ball. Throughout all the personnel changes, Valley Christian was able to muster up one drive. On the seventh play, Cameron scrambled in from 10 yards out as time expired, to make it 37-13.
Buteyn led the Spirits on the ground, as he picked up 101 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Martinez led the team with 211 passing yards, going 8 for 10 with three touchdowns. Swanson led all receivers with 123 yards and two touchdowns on four receptions.
For the Crusaders, Ryan Montgomery rushed for 87 yards on 18 carries. Cameron went 17 of 33 passing, for 135 yards and two interceptions. De Kruyf was his top target, hauling in 10 passes for 74 yards.
With the win, the Spirits closeout the regular season 7-3 overall, and 4-0 in league play. The Olympic League champs are now headed into CIF Southern Section Mid-Valley Division Playoffs. Their first playoff game will be next Friday, November 21st at Pete Knight High School in Palmdale, CA.
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