Orange County Prep Review / Steve Lowery : For Extremes, Valencia-Sunny Hills Playoff Game Had It All

Santa Ana and El Toro high schools, the top teams in Orange County, meet in the Southern Conference final in LeBard Stadium Saturday in what many expect to be the game of the year.

That’s all very nice if you go for that sort of stuff. Of course, those who like their football with a twist have already had their day.

Actually, it happened in last Friday’s Central Conference semifinal game between Valencia and Sunny Hills. Heretofore referred to as the Bizarro Bowl.

The game had turnovers and touchdowns called back because of penalties. There were light shows and light no-shows; overtime, (yikes) the California Tiebreaker, an honest-to-goodness goat-turned-hero, and an honest-to-goodness guy whose, as one newspaper account put it, “only mistake Friday night was that he tried too hard.”

The game ended as a 17-14 victory for Valencia in two overtimes. Valencia will play Bolsa Grande for the Central Conference championship Friday at 7:30 in LeBard Stadium.

It all started innocently enough--these things usually do. Sunny Hills had a 7-0 halftime lead on a touchdown run of eight yards by Tim Imperiali. Imperiali had two other touchdown runs called back because of penalties--one a 47-yard punt return.

The Lancers still had the 7-0 lead and the ball with a little bit more than a minute to play. That was, of course, after the lights went out. Apparently a circuit breaker tripped and the stadium was dark for 20 minutes.

“I’ve seen lightning strike a pole during a game,” said Mike Marrujo, Valencia coach. “But never have I seen the lights go out.”

During the blackout, Marrujo talked to members of his defense about timeouts and how to tackle.

“First guy hits, everyone else goes for the ball,” he said.

On Sunny Hills’ second play after the lights went back on, quarterback David Chisum fumbled after being hit by linebacker Kevin Barton.

Three plays later, Valencia quarterback Chris DeRisio threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Richard Nelson. Understand that DeRisio had completed 2 of 18 passes up to that point.

Valencia went for a conversion kick--”We had decided to go for one during the blackout,” Marrujo said. “After all, we had come so close to losing this one, we figured things had to change in the overtime.”

Hello California Tiebreaker, in which each team gets four plays to score from the opponent’s 10-yard-line. Imperiali runs for a touchdown, DeRisio throws for one and that ends in a tie. On to No. 2.

Valencia is stopped and kicks a field goal. Sunny Hills moves to the Valencia three on two plays. Imperiali then takes the ball and is stopped on the one. But being Imperiali, he tries for more and, as he attempts to stretch his arm and the ball over the goal line, fumbles and Valencia recovers.

“Tim and I are pretty close,” said Tim Devaney, Sunny Hills coach. “After everything is said and done, and I know he felt horrible, he had such a great night. He has nothing to be ashamed of. Neither does this team. I told them after that this game will stick in their throats for a week or so, but then they’ll look back on what a great season they had.”

The Lancers won the Freeway League title. Imperiali shared the Freeway League most valuable player award. Imperiali has played defense, running back and wide receiver. In Sunny Hills’ quarterfinal victory over Saddleback, Imperiali blocked a punt that resulted in a touchdown.

“It’s a shame it has to happen to someone like Tim,” Devaney said. “It’s a shame anything like this has to happen to a team. But they do happen. One team is ecstatic, the other has its guts spilled all over the field.”

Prep Football Song of the Year?: Got to be “Tequila.”

The song that Pee Wee Herman tiptoed his way into your heart with in the movie “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” made its way into the repertoires of most high school bands in the county.

Put in “American Bandstand” terms, the song, a classic from the early ‘60s, had a catchy melody that was easy to dance to. Most cheerleading squads broke into the Pee Wee shuffle when the band made with the song.

“Tequila” replaces Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Going to Take It,” last year’s winner.

Prep Notes

The National Federation of State High Schools Assn. will produce an instructional volleyball film at Irvine High School on Tuesday and Wednesday starring the Vaqueros’ girls’ team. The film, “New Volleyball Rules,” will be distributed to high school coaches and referees throughout the United States and Europe. . . . The Southern Conference football championship scheduled for Saturday will be broadcast live on KYMS (106.3 FM) beginning at 7 p.m. with the pregame show.