Valencia Rallies in Second Half to Defeat Sonora

Valencia High School had a surprisingly tough time defeating Sonora, 12-3, in a nonleague football game Thursday at Valencia.

Down 3-0 at halftime, the Tigers scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, one on a 27-yard pass by senior quarterback Richard Wells to Scott Weiman, the other on a one-foot dive by junior running back John Fewell. That was all Valencia, 2-0 and ranked No. 4 in the county, could manage against the Raiders (1-9 last season and 1-1 in ‘89).

For a team such as Valencia, which was 12-1-1 last year, having to work so hard to defeat a team such as Sonora must be disconcerting. And Valencia Coach Mike Marrujo appeared relieved but not satisfied after the game.

“I really thought the thing that hurt us was the failure to execute offensively,” Marrujo said, noting penalties, fumbles and dropped passes. “We were doing all the things that we normally do not do.

“Defensively we did well and it’s a good thing.”

No doubt, because Sonora was doing everything it could to upset the Tigers. Valencia couldn’t score in the first half despite outgaining Sonora 114-23.

And the game could have been closer except for an odd Sorona series in the second half.

After Valencia’s second touchdown, Sonora’s John Mataya returned the kickoff 77 yards to the 10. Valencia was called for a five-yard penalty on the runback putting the ball on the 5. What followed was right out of the Twilight Zone: two Valencia penalties and three Sonora penalties, one that was declined and two that nullified touchdowns. It was a frustrating series for Sonora Coach Larry Allen.

“They took two touchdowns away,” Allen said. “Sure it’s frustrating. It would have been a lot more fun if it was a 12-10 game.”