Valley Rolls Over Pierce, 27-23

Valley College rallied in the final minutes to defeat rival Pierce, 27-23, and win the mythical Valley area championship in a Western State Conference South Division game Saturday night at Pierce.

The Monarchs (8-2, 7-2 in conference) not only retained the bell that goes to the Pierce-Valley winner, but by improving to 3-2 and securing second place in division play, they assured themselves a bowl bid.

Valley trailed, 16-13, at halftime, but took a 20-16 lead when Sean Fitzgerald (26 of 43 for 349 yards, three touchdowns) tossed a screen pass to Vince Lampkin, who went 31 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter.

Pierce (5-5, 5-4) went ahead, 23-20, when Jabri Hodge took a slant pass from Davis Delmatoff (21 of 39, 316 yards, one touchdown) and ran for a 69-yard touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Valley began its winning drive from its 25 with 3 minutes 35 seconds to play.

The big play was a 44-yard completion from Fitzgerald to Brian Comer (six catches, 98 yards), putting the ball at the Pierce 13. On the next play, Comer scored on a screen pass from Fitzgerald to put Valley ahead for good with 2:24 left.

Pierce, which finished 2-3 in division play and was virtually eliminated from bowl contention, moved to the Monarch 40 in the final seconds, but Delmatoff was sacked twice by Grigor Melikyan.

Pierce, the WSC’s second-ranked defensive team, held Valley to 67 yards rushing, but the Monarchs were without leading rusher Irving Carter (injured knee).

Pierce’s Keith Bennett led all rushers with 93 yards in 20 carries.

David Doyle, the WSC’s leading receiver, had nine catches for 107 yards and Hodge added four receptions for 100 yards.

Delmatoff and Fitzgerald combined for 43 passes and 338 yards in the first half.

Delmatoff completed 12 of 20 for 175 yards in the half and sneaked over from the one-yard line to draw Pierce even, 10-10, midway through the second period.

Pierce took a 16-10 lead on its next series, driving 58 yards in eight plays to score on Keith Bennett’s 17-yard run, but misplayed the extra point.

Fitzgerald completed 13 of 23 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown in the first half. The sophomore from Agoura High tossed a screen pass to Brian Bernier in the first period, and Bernier broke a tackle and scooted 68 yards for a touchdown to give Valley a 10-3 lead.

Tim Cronk, who kicked a 20-yard field goal in the first quarter, added a 27-yarder to make it 16-13 just before halftime.

Pierce’s Doug Sidwell also had a 20-yard field goal in the first quarter.

The first half had a little bit of everything, including a phantom fifth down for Valley. Fitzgerald threw incomplete on third down, setting up an apparent field goal. The Monarch kicking team headed onto the field, but returned to the sideline as the officials conferred for five minutes before giving Valley another third down.

Fitzgerald threw incomplete again, and Cronk booted his second field goal with 10 seconds left in the half.