BY MATT JOCKS
HEMET— All season, the defense has been the solid backbone for Hemet Tahquitz. On Friday, finally, the unit had nothing to show for it. And that’s a good thing. The zero on the scoreboard looked nice for the Titans as they opened Mountain View League play with their first shutout of the season. The defense even contributed a couple of scores and set up another in a 36-0 rout of Hemet. “We work really hard,” linebacker Casey Miller said. “The coaches always preach it’s about putting that zero up.” The Tahquitz defense did just about everything well, shutting down the Hemet running game, getting in the face of quarterback Justice Judge, bottling up drives deep in Hemet territory and then stopping the Bulldogs (2-4) when they threatened to score. In addition to the shutout, the reward came in the form of a couple of defensive touchdowns. Late in the first half, Ronald Walton picked up a bouncing fumble and raced 57 yards to give the Titans (5-1) a 29-0 halftime lead. The only score of the second half came when Anthony Morachis picked off a pass, was able to pivot and then weaved his way to the sideline for a 46-yard scoring return. “It’s always fun to be able to score on defense,” Miller said. “Those are my boys.” Defense got the Titans off to a quick start, when Traevon Stewart recovered a fumble at the Hemet 32 on the opening drive. On the next play, the Titans broke out a trick play, with receiver Ti Davis throwing to a wide-open Devion Fields-Pickett for the touchdown. “We were going with that on the first play no matter where we were,” Tahquitz coach Dennis Gregovich said. Tahquitz also reached on the end zone on its second chance with the ball, driving 40 yards and scoring on a 10-yard pass from Nolan Valdez to Michael Stewart.