It’s hard to translate regular-season success into postseason wins, a fact Murrieta Valley can now identify with. On Saturday, they fell just short of the Newbury Park Panthers with a score of 31-28. The score was 14-14 at halftime, but the Nighthawks couldn’t quite finish the game.

When it comes to explaining why Murrieta Valley lost, don’t look to Dorian Hoze. Despite the final score, he managed 256 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 8.8 yards per carry. Hoze was no stranger to this big game, turning the Jets around for a 69-yard run.

Brady Smigiel was outstanding as usual, throwing for 322 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 14.6 yards per attempt, and also rushing for 57 yards and a touchdown for Newbury Park. That’s the most rushing yards Smigiel has gained since September. Shane Rosenthal was Smigiel’s top target, accumulating 120 yards and a touchdown.

Murrieta Valley’s loss ended a six-game winning streak at home and dropped it to 11-3. As for Newbury Park, the win leaves the team undefeated at 14-0.

There are currently no additional games scheduled for Murrieta Valley. Newbury Park will face Lincoln on Friday at 8 p.m. Lincoln are on a four-game home win streak, Newbury Park are on a nine-game away win streak (dating back to last season) – so someone has to leave an away win streak on the pitch.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered into MaxPreps