Antelope Valley Stuns Glendale With Rally : WSC Bowl: Blocked kicks, Cooper’s two long touchdown plays key 24-23 victory.

The rally began with a blocked punt.

It ended with a blocked field-goal attempt.

In between, Antelope Valley College--a team that had lost five consecutive bowl games and nine of 12--turned what looked like certain defeat into a stunning comeback victory about as quickly as you can say Lamart Cooper.

With the elusive Cooper leading the way, Antelope Valley took little more than one quarter to erase a 17-point halftime deficit and pin a 24-23 defeat on Glendale in the Western State Conference Bowl on Saturday at Glendale High.

Cooper, the Foothill Conference offensive most valuable player, was named the Marauders’ most valuable player of the game after scoring long touchdowns on a pair of screen passes from quarterback Ryan Callahan in the second half.

Cooper’s second touchdown reception, a 50-yard play 10 seconds into the fourth period, pulled Antelope Valley (8-2-1) even for the first time, and Chuck Gordon’s extra-point kick gave the Marauders a 24-23 lead they refused to relinquish despite a desperate Vaquero rally in the final minutes.

Glendale (8-3), which had beaten Antelope Valley in six of seven meetings, had one last shot at victory after Eric Kiesau tossed a 36-yard completion to Ryan Kadletz, who bobbled the ball but held on as he tumbled to the turf at the Marauder 33-yard line with less than a minute to play.

Two Kiesau passes fell incomplete, and a completion to Kadletz on third down went for a one-yard loss, setting up a 52-yard field-goal attempt by Brad Faunce with 24 seconds to play. Faunce had been successful on kicks of 36, 22 and 34 yards, the latter giving the Vaqueros a 23-17 lead late in the third period.

Faunce, who made a 57-yard kick earlier this season, had the wind at his back as he set up for the potential winning attempt. The snap came a little high, but holder Manny Ruedaflores got the ball down, and Faunce, after hesitating slightly, drove his right leg into the ball. The kick traveled about five yards before it ricocheted off the helmet of oncoming Marauder lineman Rick Nickols and was recovered by Antelope Valley at the 16-yard line.

“I thought he was going to make it, then I saw him take that little jitter step and it took his rhythm off,” said Kiesau, who completed 14 of 26 for 164 yards and threw one interception. “It shouldn’t have come down to a field goal. I thought we were a much better team, but they got the breaks.”

Glendale appeared to be the better team in the first half, limiting ground-oriented Antelope Valley to 36 rushing yards while rolling to a 20-3 lead behind Pathon Rucker, who scored on runs of one and 52 yards.

Rucker, a freshman from Glendale High, rushed for 127 yards by halftime against an Antelope Valley defense that had allowed only 91 rushing yards a game. Rucker, who jammed his left toe in the second half but continued to play, finished with 175 yards in 32 carries and was named the Vaqueros’ most valuable player in the game.

Glendale, which had a plus-14 turnover ratio entering the game, took advantage of three Marauder miscues in the first half to build its 17-point lead at intermission.

But this game was a tale of two halves. Antelope Valley, 3-9-1 in bowl games, forced a Glendale punt on the opening series of the third period, and defensive back Robert Haywood poured through the line to block Faunce’s attempt. The ball rolled back into the end zone, where Chris Goring recovered it to pull Antelope Valley to within 20-10. “The blocked punt was the biggest play of the game,” Cooper said. “It got us back into the game--fast.”

The Marauders forced another punt on Glendale’s next series and took over on the Vaquero 47 after a 13-yard return by David McCovy. Four plays later, Cooper took a sideline screen pass from Callahan (seven of 14 for 215 yards) and scooted 44 yards for a touchdown. Gordon’s kick cut Glendale’s lead to 20-17.

Cooper, who had three catches for 104 yards, took another screen from Callahan on the first play of the fourth period. He picked up a block from McCovy and raced 50 yards down the right sideline for a score.

“That’s what scared me--that Cooper was going to go off like that,” Glendale Coach John Cicuto said. “We did a good job on him in the first half, but he looked faster in the second half.”

Glendale, which was averaging more than 40 points and 400 yards a game, finished with 359 yards in offense. Antelope Valley had 319 yards--only 102 on the ground.