Valley Catches Moorpark at the Finish : Junior college football: Fitzgerald hits Comer with three seconds left for 21-19 victory in K-Swiss Bowl.

If a screenwriter had come up with a story line like this, he probably would have been laughed out of town.

But, hey, this was not fantasy.

Sean Fitzgerald connected with Brian Comer on a 16-yard pass play with three seconds left in the game to give Valley College a 21-19 victory over Moorpark in the Western State Conference K-Swiss Bowl on Saturday at Griffin Stadium.

The play capped an incredible fourth-quarter rally by the Monarchs (9-2) after Moorpark (8-3) seemed on its way to its sixth consecutive win.

“I don’t remember anything this fun and rewarding,” said Valley Coach Jim Fenwick, whose team overcame a 16-0 deficit.

Fitzgerald and Comer hooked up on the three Valley touchdowns, all in the final quarter, after Moorpark stymied the Monarchs in the first half. The winning score came on a fourth-and-10 from the Moorpark 16-yard line.

Fitzgerald, who completed 25 of 46 passes for 317 yards, hit Comer with a pass on the right flat about three yards from the end zone but the wide receiver muscled into the end zone.

“The corner who was playing me went for the ball and missed, so I just lowered my head and went for the end zone,” Comer said.

Comer, who caught nine passes for 182 yards, made exceptional receptions on his two other touchdowns.

Comer caught an 11-yard pass from Fitzgerald over cornerback Kevin Smith in the right corner of the end zone with 10:15 to play in the game to cut Moorpark’s lead to 16-6.

A few minutes later, he took a ball away from Smith in the end zone on a 27-yard pass play from Fitzgerald to bring Valley to within 16-14 with 5:38 left.

Moorpark opened the lead to 19-14 on a 34-yard field goal by Steve Sabbe before the Monarchs launched their desperation last-minute drive with no timeouts.

After Valley’s winning touchdown, the Raiders almost returned a short kickoff for a touchdown, tossing the ball back and forth on several laterals before a forward pass stopped the play. Moorpark actually returned the kick to the one-yard line.

There were few sustained drives on either side in the first half, but Moorpark managed to get close enough to score three field goals.

The Raiders broke the ice on a 30-yard field goal by Steve Sabbe with 6 minutes 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Raiders added another field goal on their next possession, this time by Steve Prchal, who handles long kicks for Moorpark. His 48-yard field goal with three minutes left in the opening quarter increased the Raider lead to 6-0.

Prchal converted a 37-yarder as time ran out in the half to give Moorpark a 9-0 lead.

Valley never got closer than the Moorpark 13-yard line in the first half, but that drive, its first of the game, ended in a failed 31-yard field-goal attempt by Tim Cronk with 9:27 to play in the first quarter.

The Raider defense limited Fitzgerald to eight completions in 17 attempts for 51 yards in the first half and didn’t allow him to complete a pass for more than 16 yards.

Moorpark running back Gil Carrillo rushed for 159 yards in 32 carries.