It didn’t take long for Citrus Valley to grab its first varsity football victory. And it definitely wasn’t in the conventional way.

Riverside Patriot High School, which defeated the Blackhawks 48-0 in Citrus Valley’s inaugural game last Thursday at Redlands High School, forfeited the victory due to an ineligible player. Nothing had been reported to CIF officials as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, but CIF-SS director of communications Thom Simmons confirmed hearing of it in an e-mail correspondence.

Citrus Valley athletic director Steve Thornburgh also confirmed it, saying that the incident was a self-policing move by Patriot that came unsolicited from Citrus Valley.

“We would have liked to gotten our first victory on the field by scoring more points than the other team,” Thornburgh said. “This isn’t the way we wanted to get it, but I applaud Patriot High School for discovering the problem and reporting it promptly. It was entirely on their end.”

The Blackhawks play again Saturday at 7 p.m., as they take on Arrowhead Christian at Redlands High School.

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