HEMET— Long road trips are a fact of life in the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Those trips home are better enjoyed when celebrating a victory.
That’s what the Viewpoint football team was trying to do on Friday night as they visited Hemet in a CIF-SS Division 11 first-round matchup. What started out as a shootout progressed into a defensive struggle, and the Patriots prevailed 21-20. The win was Viewpoint’s second straight opening-round win after going 11 years without a victory in CIF-SS postseason play. It also marks the first time in school history that the Patriots have won nine games in a season.
Magnus Merriman was 13 of 22 passing for 220 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win for Viewpoint, who moves to 9-2 on the season while Hemet finishes at 6-5.
“We’ve been banged up all year (carrying 33 guys on our roster and dressing 28) and battled adversity and I’m just so proud of our guys for willing themselves to this kind of win,” Viewpoint coach Ken Papotta said. “Hemet’s a good football team but what our guys did well defensively was minimizing the big play and we’re in for another challenge in Xavier Prep next week. It’s a special moment for these kids, their parents and our school.”
After a quarter, the score was tied at 14 as both teams combined to score on all four series in that opening 12 minutes.
Viewpoint got on the board first when Ben Burkin ran for a 5-yard touchdown with 9:12 left in the quarter.
Hemet answered with Drew Neal’s 8-yard touchdown run nearly four minutes later. That was set up by a successful fourth-down conversion when punter Brendan Lara completed a 35-yard pass to keep the series alive.
Merriman’s 53-yard touchdown pass to Shane Anderson gave the Patriots a 14-7 lead, and James Abner’s 90-yard kickoff return for Hemet down the right sideline with 2:37 left finished the opening quarter scoring.
They later combined on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 3:48 left in the second quarter to give Viewpoint a 21-14 lead at intermission.
“Everyone was really bought in and invested in practice during the week, and it showed on the field,” Merriman said. “We’re a band of brothers who pick each other up and if it got to be one of those close, gritty games late, I knew our conditioning would pay off. We don’t have the luxury of a ton of subs or depth but what you get here is a group of guys who aren’t afraid of the work in practice and embrace the underdog role on gameday.”
Hemet tacked on a pair of second-half field goals by Samuel Trout, but it wasn’t enough as the Inland Valley League co-champions fell.
Viewpoint makes a return trip into Riverside County next week, visiting Xavier Prep, who defeated Banning 27-14.