Mauldin, Blackwell Send Valley Out With Bang, 41-27

The most prolific offensive season in Valley College’s football history ended Saturday with a 41-27 Western State Conference Southern Division victory over rival Pierce at Valley.

The Monarchs (5-4-1, 5-4 in conference play, 2-3 in division play) failed to earn a berth in a bowl game, but that didn’t stop Valley’s showtime duo of quarterback Joe Mauldin and running back Howard Blackwell, and their supporting cast, from giving Coach Jim Fenwick a season to remember.

Blackwell, the school’s single-season rushing leader with 1,255 yards in 187 carries, rushed for four touchdowns Saturday to set school season records with 23 touchdowns and 138 points.

Blackwell shredded Pierce’s defense for 120 yards in 28 carries to finish with nine consecutive 100-plus-yard games.

Mauldin, Valley’s season record-holder in total offense, completed 16 of 25 passes for 136 yards and one touchdown and ran for 89 yards in 16 carries and another touchdown. Mauldin, like Blackwell a sophomore, finished with 2,701 yards in total offense (1,905 passing and 796 rushing).

“Two of the best I’ve ever been around,” Fenwick said of the pair while the traditional Valley-Pierce Victory Bell rang in a postgame celebration. “We’re disappointed that we didn’t go to a bowl game, but you can’t get (the losses) back.”

In a wild first half that featured the usual theatrics of Blackwell and Mauldin, the Monarchs streaked to a comfortable 35-13 advantage at the break.

Valley, setting a school record of 4,602 yards in offense for the season, set the tone early when Pierce (5-5, 4-5, 2-3) fumbled on its first offensive play and Blackwell scored on a two-yard run six plays later to cap a 35-yard drive.

Four minutes later, Mauldin hit wide receiver Billy Parra from 11 yards out for a 13-0 Valley lead. That drive covered 47 yards in eight plays.

Pierce countered with a 53-yard scoring drive on its ensuing possession as quarterback Cesar Parra (18 for 30 for 191 yards) scored on a 10-yard keeper, but Valley took a 21-6 first-quarter lead seconds later when Blackwell scored on a 12-yard run.

The touchdown followed a 72-yard kickoff return by Valley’s Benny Evans. Early in the second quarter, Evans set up a one-yard Blackwell touchdown run with a 64-yard punt return. Pierce cut the lead to 28-13 on a nine-yard Parra-to-Dan Alexander pass play.