Hanks Hot in Valley Rout, 68-21

Listen to Barry Hanks as he walks the sidelines during Valley College football games. With all the protective equipment he wears, the sophomore quarterback squeaks and creaks like an ancient automobile.

On the field, however, Hanks is as finely tuned as an Indianapolis racing machine. The 6-1, 195-pound Hanks entered Saturday night’s game against Rio Hondo as the most efficient passer in the state, having completed 62.9% of his attempts.

Hanks increased that figure a few points by completing 16 of 17 for 301 yards and 4 touchdowns as Valley pummeled Rio Hondo, 68-21, in a Southern California Conference game at Valley.

Valley, ranked 20th in the nation by the JC Grid--Wire and third in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau, remains unbeaten (7-0, 5-0 in conference play). Rio Hondo (3-4, 3-3) had a two-game winning streak snapped.

“This is what we practiced all week,” said Hanks, who had touchdown passes of 9, 25, 62 and 6 yards. “I had all day to throw and the running game also helped take some of the pressure off me.”

Valley tailback Dondre Bausley, who came into the game as the state’s leading rusher (948 yards), played sparingly, carrying 11 times for 53 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Wide receiver James Reaves caught 8 passes for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns.

But the story of the game was Hanks, who completed 14 consecutive passes before finally missing with 5:37 left in the third quarter.

The game was over by halftime as Valley rolled up 16 first downs en route to its 47-14 lead.

The Monarchs began the scoring on the first possession of the game, driving 64 yards in eight plays with Bausley going over from eight yards out.

The Valley defense, led by linebacker Joe Zacharia, then stuffed Rio Hondo and forced the Roadrunners to punt. This time, it took Valley just four plays to travel 56 yards, Bausley carrying the final three with 6:14 left in the first quarter.

The Monarch defense got in on the scoring when Chris Gnau recovered a blocked punt in the end zone.

Valley went ahead, 26-0, on the first play of the second quarter when Bausley registered his third touchdown from a yard out.

Rio Hondo finally got on the board when quarterback Eric Rubalcava connected with wide receiver Mike Padilla on a 64-yard pass play with 12:30 left in first half.

The Monarchs answered immediately with a 58-yard, five-play drive that Hanks capped with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Reaves to make the score 33-7.