This past Friday the Palo Verde Yellow Jackets faced off against the John Muir Mustangs in the CIF Division 5 AA Regional Semi Final. The Yellow Jackets ultimately came up short 33-7 in a mostly one sided game.  Even though the Yellow Jackets ultimately came up short at a shot at the CIF Division 5 AA State Title, it was a very strong and exciting run through the CIF Playoffs that ended in the Regional game. 

    PV started the game with a 3 and out on offense, the first time that has happened all season. John Muir then jumped out to a 7-0  lead with a 40 yard passing touchdown. By Halftime, the Yellow Jackets still weren’t able to do much on offense and found themselves down 20-0 to the Mustangs. Out of halftime the Yellow Jackets forced a turnover on downs to get the ball hoping to finally build some momentum.  The offense stalled out again and was forced to punt twice, not putting up any points in the third quarter. The Jacklets finally got on the board late in the game but it was ultimately to late to stage any type of comeback and John Muir took the CIF Division 5 AA San Diego Section Regional Game win with a score of 33-7.

    Palo Verde’s leading rushers were Xzavier Bejarano with 74 yards and Markus Macon with 40 yards, along with Jonathen Crowe’s 49 yards. Xzavier Bejarno led the team with a total of 8 tackles and RIo Albanez led the team with two tackles for loss. Jerric Zarrate was the only Jacket able to get to the quarterback recording 1 sack to lead the team. Ian Maciel was the only Jacket to recover a fumble, recording 1 fumble recovery. Lastly, kicker Joshua Perez went 1 for 1 on extra points.

    All of this led to a disappointing performance in the regional game. Even though our Jackets lost, it doesn’t take away all the memorable achievements they’ve had this year. Be sure to come out next year and show your support for the team during the 2023 season. Lets go Jackets!