No offense means no Valencia victory

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When you only have one first down in the final 24 minutes of a playoff game, chances are you’re not going to win.

Valencia‘s comeback season after last year’s 2-8 campaign ended Friday with a heart-wrenching, 29-28 loss to third-seeded Newbury Park in the Northern Division quarterfinals.

The main culprit behind the Vikings’ demise was its inability to crack the Panthers’ defense, especially in the second half, when it was held to only 37 total yards, a 15-yard chunk of which came in the final seconds when all hope was practically gone.

‘We didn’t play well offensively and they just didn’t help us out tonight,’ Valencia Coach Larry Muir said. ‘I thought the defense played great and made some big plays with our backs against the wall ... but we just couldn’t get any rhythm offensively and it killed us.’

It was a very two-faced performance for the Vikings and I was really surprised it was the Valencia defense that was better of the two. Valencia recorded three interceptions, including one that was returned 65 yards for a TD by lineman Michael Lien to give the Vikings a 21-14 halftime lead.

Two more third-quarter interceptions by UCLA-bound Marlon Pollard and Dominick Solley prevented what looked to be sure-thing Panther scoring drives. And Joshua Gibbs’ 64-yard TD run on a fumble recovery gave Valencia a 28-20 lead with 4:57 left.

However, when it mattered the most, Valencia’s defense couldn’t stop a desperate Newbury Park team. And that should be the story of the game, as far as the Vikings are concerned.

(Here’s a photo of Valencia’s offense getting ready to take the field in the second quarter.)

-- Austin Knoblauch