Racobs Wants to Lead Valencia All the Way This Time

Shawn Racobs, Valencia High School lineman, never won a league title while playing for four years in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Junior All-American football program. He never got to wear the prized trophy that every youngster on a winning team received . . . the coveted purple jacket.

“Every kid wanted one, but I was never fortunate enough to play on a championship team,” Racobs said.

All that changed when Racobs enrolled at Valencia. He started on the Tigers’ freshman team that finished second in the Orange League and then had three years that have given him league championship patches for his varsity jacket.

Racobs, 6-feet 1-inch and 215 pounds, had started for three seasons as a defensive tackle for the Tigers and then made a smooth transition to the offensive line this season to become a two-way starter.

He earned all-league honors as a junior and recently was named the Orange League’s defensive player of the year. Only one honor has eluded Racobs. He’d like to play in the Central Conference championship, something the Tigers can qualify for with a victory over Sunny Hills Friday night in Fullerton District Stadium.

“This school has never played in a championship game, and the talk among the seniors on the team is that we’d like to do it this year,” Racobs said. “We’ve lost to the eventual champion for the past three years in the playoffs.”

Valencia lost to Sunny Hills in the 1983 semifinals. Fullerton eliminated the Tigers in the semifinals in 1984, and last year, Valencia lost to Saddleback in the quarterfinals.

“I played on two of those teams, and it’s a very big letdown losing in the playoffs,” Racobs said. “It doesn’t matter how much success you had in the regular season, people only seem to remember that you lost in the playoffs.”

Valencia, the top-seeded team in the Central Conference playoffs, faced possible elimination last Saturday in the quarterfinals against Artesia.

Artesia led at halftime, 14-0, and had controlled the line of scrimmage. Racobs says the mood was tense in the Tiger locker room at halftime.

“We knew we had to win, or we’d be turning in our equipment on Monday,” he said. “The defensive players decided it was time to do something.”

The Tigers responded by limiting Artesia to one first down in the second half as Valencia rallied for a 17-14 victory and a trip to the conference’s semifinals.

Afterward, Valencia Coach Mike Marrujo called the victory a typical team effort by a group of overachievers.

“We play together real well as a team,” Racobs said. “We’ve grown close together on and off the field. We’re all good friends.

“This team doesn’t come close to other teams in terms of size, but we hit hard and play intense. I think a lot of teams have underestimated us because of our size.”

Valencia has also had to overcome injuries to key players. The Tigers’ lost their best offensive player, running back Tony Goulet, in the fifth week and lost their best defensive back, Brett Gregory, the next week. Knee injuries ended their seasons.

“We felt bad for them, but we didn’t let their injuries get us down,” Racobs said. “It wasn’t going to stop us. The injuries kept us going. Our goals were to make the playoffs and win the league, and we accomplished both.”

Marrujo says Racobs’ consistency has played a major role in the Tigers’ success the past three years.

“Our offensive line has been our stabilizing factor through the past five years, and this year was no different,” Marrujo said. “Shawn played an important position for us and made some sacrifices to go both ways.

“He’s a good team leader that all the players respect. He practices hard and never missed a day last summer in the weight room. He’s a good example to the younger players.”

Racobs gained 30 pounds last summer through a rigorous weight program and by eating five meals a day. He also worked unloading trailers at a warehouse in Cerritos.

“I probably drank a gallon of milk a day and ate a lot of steaks, beef, potatoes and burritos,” he said. “I was constantly eating because I knew I was going to have to get bigger if I was going to go both ways.

“Personally, I prefer playing defense. You get to be a little more creative and it’s exciting, even in practice. Offensive blocking schemes are pretty routine and get boring. But I’ve found that being an experienced defensive lineman has helped me as an offensive lineman because I know most of the techniques that a defensive lineman uses and how to counter them.”