Temecula Valley looks to snap skid at Corona Friday

Temecula Valley High carries a two-game losing streak into Friday's Big West-South Division game at Corona High School, with the Golden Bears' playoff positioning on the line.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, in Corona, according to the TVHS athletics schedule. The Golden Bears are 6-2 overall and 1-2 in league play. Corona enters 4-4 overall and 0-3 in the Big West-South, according to MaxPreps.

The Panthers have not won a Big West league game this season and went 0-5 in league each of the past two years, per MaxPreps. Their 0-3 mark this fall includes a 49-6 loss to Roosevelt.

Temecula Valley, by contrast, opened the season 6-0 for the first time since 2005 before dropping back-to-back games. King beat the Golden Bears 17-7 on Oct. 9, and Great Oak followed with a 33-10 win on Oct. 16, as the Press-Enterprise reported.

A key question entering Friday is the status of starting quarterback Caden Crisman. He did not play in the Great Oak game after he was not cleared from concussion protocol, the Press-Enterprise reported. Sophomore Cayson Wicklas started in his place. No public update on Crisman's availability has been announced.

Head coach Joel Nichols said after the Great Oak loss that his team still has a path forward.

"We still have a chance to finish the season 8-2, and that would be a remarkable season, and then heading into the playoffs with some momentum would be great," Nichols told the Press-Enterprise on Oct. 16.

A win Friday would end the losing streak and keep Temecula Valley in strong position for the CIF Southern Section playoffs with one regular-season game left. A loss would drop the Golden Bears to 1-3 in league and 6-3 overall heading into the final week.

Corona has struggled in league play. The Panthers have not posted a winning league record since the 2024-25 season, when they finished 0-5 in the Big West-Lower Division. They went 0-5 in league again in 2025-26.

The IE Varsity Week 9 schedule also lists King at Great Oak on Friday in a Big West-South first-place showdown between the division's top two teams.