MidValleySports.Com

By George Hernandez

(La Verne) – Northview’s defense stood up and the Vikings held onto a 14-13 victory over Bonita Thursday night at Bonita high school. 

Both teams’ first possessions were stopped at midfield – Northview’s on the ground and Bonita’s in the air. 

The Vikings offense got going when Angel Barraza broke a 40-yard run but was stopped by Jacob Maddox short of the end zone. 

The Bearcats defense stood strong keeping Northview out the end zone with 3 plays inside the five-yard line and turned the ball over on downs as the first quarter came to an end. 

Bonita was forced to punt and the Vikings started on the 20-yard line. A few plays later Keanu Tauvao found the end zone from four yards out putting the first points on the board. 

Bearcats had to punt again but this time Northview couldn’t capitalize and attempted to boot it away but it was blocked by Maddox who took it down to the 20-yard line. 

Bonita had a short field and freshmen quarterback Daniel Mielke II found Noah Mikhail in the end zone but a missed two-point conversion kept it at 7-6. 

Northview punted once again but got the ball back just before half on a Juan Alcaraz interception. 

Bearcats had the ball first in the second half and drove down the field and again Mikhail got in the end zone this time on a one-yard run, putting Bonita up 13-7.

The Vikings fumbled on their next possession but Bonita couldn’t get anything out of it. 

Both teams exchanged punts the next four possessions. 

Bonita, on its third straight series that ended in a punt, had a bad snap and Northview ended up with the ball on their own 20-yard line. 

A pass interference call gave the Vikings the ball on the three-yard line and Barraza found paydirt and gave them a 14-13 lead midway through the fourth quarter. 

Bearcats got a big 40-yard reception from Maddox on their next possession but the offense was stopped and they had go for a 40-yard field goal which was missed. 

Northview tried to run the time out and did come up with a fourth and two conversion but was still forced to punt with a minute left. 

Bonita chose to air it out and got down to the 25-yard line. The Bearcats were going to attempt a field goal but time expired. 

Both teams defensive lines played great. Nathan Warner and Isaac Zermeno for the Vikings and Nicholas Ramirez and Avelar for the Bearcats had both quarterbacks scrambling all night. 

Bonita fell to 5-1 with the loss and will face Sierra Vista next week while Northview (6-1) enters its bye week.