Mark Cadena shines on both sides as King football team defeats Citrus Valley

RIVERSIDE – Mark Cadena is a match-up nightmare for opposing teams, no matter where he lines up on the football field.

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Cadena caught one touchdown pass as a tight end and another while lined up as a wide receiver, and he also registered a pair of sacks on defense Thursday night in helping the King football team post a 24-10 nonleague victory over Citrus Valley.

Cadena has a tremendous combination of size (6-foot-6, 235 pounds) and athleticism (also plays basketball and baseball). King coach Jason McMains uses Cadena, Weslee Sorenson (6-5, 230 pounds) and Parker Murphy (6-3, 210 pounds) in a variety of ways on offense. Sorenson caught the second of the three touchdown passes thrown by Tristan Lepale during Thursday’s game.

“I would say they are game-wreckers out there,” McMains said of his trio of tight ends. “We like sprinkling in different looks with those guys. They are special, so we need to use them. And they also are out there making big plays for our defense.”

King (4-1 overall) again started strong, marching 71 yards on the opening possession of the contest to grab the early lead. Lepale had a 22-yard completion to Sorenson on a third-and-2, and Cadena later hauled in an 18-yard touchdown catch.

Citrus Valley struggled to move the sticks at the outset, with only one of the Blackhawks’ first nine plays going for positive yards.

King later doubled its lead, as the Wolves put together a 13-play, 89-yard drive that ate 6 1/2 minutes of clock between the first and second quarters. Lepale was 5 of 6 on that drive for 68 yards, including the 4-yard touchdown strike to Sorenson.

Citrus Valley’s defense came up big midway through the second period, with Andrew Wiseman recovering a fumble at the King 42. And the Blackhawks converted the turnover into points when Tyrand Starling scrambled 5 yards for a touchdown.

King had enough time to answer before halftime, and Lepale found Cadena for a 15-yard touchdown with 32 seconds on the clock.

Citrus Valley looked for a “Hail Mary” on the final play of the half, but Cadena swooped in and sacked Sterling as time expired.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Cadena said of playing multiple positions. “I just want to help my team anyway I can. I’ll play anywhere I’m asked.”

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Sterling injured his leg on that final play of the first half. Jacob Nottingham took over and guided a promising drive to start the second half, but he was sacked on third-and-4. The Blackhawks settled for a 27-yard field goal by Isaiah Khoobbagha.

Citrus Valley had an opportunity to cut further into the deficit a few minutes later after Jacob Jeffries delivered a crunching tackle and recovered a fumble. The ensuing drive came to a quick end, however, as Blake Wright intercepted a pass from Nottingham.

McMains chose to protect the lead and put the ball in the hands of Ryu Posadas and Cruz Cuba, despite each running back having lost a fumble earlier in the game. That duo and Lepale combined to rush for 81 yards on 22 carries after halftime.

Samuel Stewart kicked a 26-yard field goal to cap a 17-play drive and extend King’s lead to 24-10 with 6:02 left in the game. Citrus Valley’s last chance for a comeback all but ended when King’s Jackson Ybarra recovered a fumble 8 seconds later.

“We still have to clean some things up on offense,” McMains said. “We are turning the ball over more than we usually do.”

Citrus Valley coach Kurt Bruich was pleased with his team’s effort overall, particularly the performance in the second half.

“King is way way bigger than us, and I think we spent so much time worrying about their height in the first half and just got beat in some coverages,” Bruich said. “We fixed some of those things in the second half. … It was a 3-3 tie after halftime.”

Posadas led King’s ground attack with 66 yards on 18 carries, while Drayton Fitzpatrick had four receptions for 61 yards.

Dylan Gallegos was a bright spot offensively for Citrus Valley, hauling in five catches for a game-high 89 yards.

King will take its bye week before opening up Big West Conference-South Division play at Corona on Oct. 2. Citrus Valley, meanwhile, will conclude the nonleague portion of its schedule Sept. 25 at Upland.

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This story was originally published September 18, 2026 at 12:49 AM.