A Fast Clock Is No Defense Against Valley

Time flies for Chuck Ferrero when he’s having fun, but Saturday night was a little ridiculous.

Ferrero, the Valley College football coach, was on the sideline as his unbeaten team battered San Bernardino for a 49-13 Southern California Conference win at San Bernardino. The victory kept the Monarchs (6-0, 5-0) atop the conference standings.

The score indicates that Valley got all the breaks, but San Bernardino was probably the major beneficiary when the scoreboard clock broke during the first quarter. Ferrero said the officials informed the coaches of both teams that time would be kept by hand and that they would receive updates every two minutes. But Ferrero claimed the advisories never came. Something--like almost one full quarter--got lost in the translation.

“It felt like we played just three quarters,” Ferrero said. “We figured we lost eight minutes of the game.”

The statistics back up Ferrero’s claim. The Monarchs average about 90 offensive plays a game, but against San Bernardino, Ferrero said his team got off just 59 snaps.

“We talked about it after the game and sure enough, we turned the film on and it was over before you could blink.” Ferrero said. “It was like a high school game.”

San Bernardino Coach Ron Smedley didn’t share Ferrero’s opinion about the lost minutes. Asked whether he thought the game ended quickly, Smedley said, “Not quick enough.”