PREP FOOTBALL / Saturday Pullout : Plenty of Offense but No Score for Valencia and Villa Park

After 48 minutes of sometimes-stirring, sometimes-ragged football, the best Villa Park and Valencia could produce was a 0-0 tie before about 1,000 at Bradford Stadium.

Despite combining for more than 400 yards, neither team could find the end zone. Both tried kicking their way to victory, but that was also a no-go. The visiting Spartans missed their one field-goal try, a 32-yarder, on their opening series of the second half, while the Tigers missed two attempts, the last a 27-yarder with 11 seconds to play.

And while defense did not totally control the game, both teams came up with big plays. Valencia’s Rhett Shepard--who caught six passes for 52 yards--had a pair of interceptions, none more critical than the ball he stole from Spartan tight end Kris Fisher at the Tigers’ eight-yard line with 5 minutes 19 seconds left in the game.

Villa Park’s Larry Hendricks stepped in front of Valencia’s Jermaine Gray to intercept a Joe Secoda pass at the Spartans’ four-yard line earlier in the fourth quarter.

The Spartans, ranked ninth in the Times’ preseason poll, are expected to win the Century League after finishing second last year and 8-4 overall. Nonetheless, Villa Park Coach Pat Mahoney was happy to get out of the Tigers’ den unbeaten.

“I haven’t had too many ties in my career--in fact, only one that I can think of,” Mahoney said. “But there were some good things to build on. The kids made a few mistakes, but they played hard. We matched up with them. They had speed in the secondary and so did we, so the game ended up a battle of lines, and that ended up a tie.”

Valencia Coach Mike Marrujo seemed less satisfied.

“A typical tie,” said Marrujo. “The good and bad are kind of split down the middle.”

The first half seemed devoted to shaking off summer rust and first-game nerves. Valencia made the deepest foray into opposition territory, rumbling from its four to the Spartans’ 11 before the drive stalled.

Secoda took a shot at the end zone, but Chris Roussin, looking back into a bank of lights, was unable to hold onto the ball with two Spartans holding his shoulder pads. Secoda attempted a 27-yard field goal, but the kick was wide left.

Villa Park moved the ball with some success, getting as close as the Tigers’ 16-yard line in the first quarter, but quarterback Sean McMahon was stifled on a fourth-down pass play that turned into a run for his life. McMahon tried a couple of long throws in the half too; one was too long for Sean Adams at the Valencia 45, and the other was intercepted by Shepard at the Tigers’ 14.