REDLANDS — Citrus Valley has probably had three or four seasons during the 2024 high school football campaign. There were the non-league games early. Blackhawks’ coach Kurt Bruich always plays a challenging schedule to prepare for the Citrus Belt League play, and Citrus Valley was 0-4. There was fire season, where the Line Fire caused the cancellation of one game, a rescheduled contest, and a disjointed practice schedule. The third season came to a successful conclusion on Friday night with a 28-0 victory over cross-town rival Redlands. Citrus Valley has what seems to be an unimpressive 2-4 season, but the Blackhawks are 2-0 in the CBL with a share of first place. Redlands (4-3) is 0-2 in the CBL. Now comes the fourth season, the final three games in the CBL. “We have to win three league games to get in the playoffs,” Bruich said. “We’ve won two.” Citrus Valley has made the CIF-Southern Section playoffs for all six seasons Bruich has led the Blackhawks. Citrus Valley senior punt returner Jayden Bowens had a big night with returns deep into Redlands territory. “We work on punt returns a lot,” said Bowens, who also play wide receiver, defensive back and quarterback. “The coaches stay up at night reviewing films to see where there might be gaps.” Citrus Valley opened the scoring when defensive back Gabriel Purkey returned an interception 15 yards for a touchdown with 58 seconds elapsed in the game. Redlands played stubbornly for most of the first half and kept the game close. Bowens returned a punt 26 yards to the Redlands 29-yard line. Junior Damien Johnson gained 22 yards on the first play. Johnson gained 93 yards on 10 carries for the Blackhawks. Three plays later, junior quarterback Dominic Robles rolled right, escaped a would-be tackler, and found Andrew Akinpelu in the end zone with a 4-yard touchdown. Kaden Hoekstra’s conversion kick lifted Citrus Valley to a 14-0 lead with 2:25 remaining in the first half. Related Articles High School Sports | IE Varsity’s football wrap-up: Stories, scores and photos from Week 7 games High School Sports | Murrieta Valley football team shows resilience and overpowers Chaparral High School Sports | Aquinas football team dominant in shutout win over Cerritos Valley Christian High School Sports | Norco football team powers past Roosevelt High School Sports | Kody Shinar and defense help Ramona football team pull away from Norte Vista Bowens had a 30-yard punt return late in the third quarter. Robles immediately connected on a 31-yard scoring pass to Jaymie Evans with 2:18 remaining in the third quarter. “What doesn’t he (Bowens) do?” Bruich said. “We have a punt return team which can use several alternatives.” Redlands senior running back Teddy McGee had another productive night. He gained 113 yards on 23 carries and was very difficult to bring down by one tackler, but Citrus Valley managed to get several defenders to get to the ball and bring McGee to the ground. “We are able to run the ball, but our passing game isn’t working,” said Redlands coach Robert Stangel. Redlands quarterback Brady Valles passed for only 51 yards while completing 8 of 17 passes. Valles was sacked five times and faced constant pressure.