Valley’s Quarterbacks Behind Flowers Are Just Passing Time

They stand on the sideline in every game, waiting for a call that comes too infrequently for their taste.

They were highly regarded high school quarterbacks, even record-setters, but now they are backups on a team with a logjam at that position.

They could start for many other junior college teams, but David Lins, Zack Hernandez and Ryan Connors and are no malcontents.

“This is one of the best programs around and I’m happy to be here,” Lins said.

For the three Valley College freshmen, being part of the state’s top-rated team has softened the blow of getting only limited playing time.

Besides, they can hardly argue their case. This season, as in recent years, the Monarchs have one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Utah State transfer Aaron Flowers leads the Western State Conference with 2,179 yards passing and 16 touchdowns.

Flowers, a 6-foot sophomore from Artesia High, is a key reason the Monarchs are 8-0 and 4-0 in WSC South Division play as they travel to Moorpark for tonight’s matchup at 7 with the Raiders (7-1, 4-0), ranked 17th in the nation.

The remarkably accurate Flowers, who has completed 69.6% of his passes, will direct Valley’s potent no-huddle, run-and-shoot offense against Moorpark while Lins, Hernandez and Connors watch.

Flowers has taken nearly every snap and has proven that he was the man for the job, but Coach Jim Fenwick concedes that the Monarchs might have fared as well with Lins at the position.

But things would have been different had the Monarchs gone with their spring personnel. At that time, Hernandez was the frontrunner after transferring from Cal Lutheran, where he was a redshirt. The former L.A. Baptist standout, who passed for 3,634 yards and 26 touchdowns his senior season in 1993, at first was virtually unchallenged at Valley.

“It was just me and I was the man,” Hernandez said. “I learned a lot in the spring working with the coaches, basically running it by myself. Flowers came [in late summer] and showed he knows football. He’s really smart. . . . I wanted to play and that’s one of the reasons I left Cal Lu, but it’s fine with me. He earned it.”

A few weeks before the season started, the competition was heated, with Lins and Connors in the mix.

Lins was fresh off an outstanding season at Crespi, where he passed for 2,103 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Connors had not played since his senior season at Hart in 1991, when he passed for a Southern Section single-season record 4,144 yards. He spent part of a 16-month sentence in prison after being convicted in a drunk-driving accident in Newhall in 1993.

“I was looking for a place to play,” Lins said. “I checked out a few junior colleges but I had heard all about Valley and I wanted the best junior college program.”

When the season opened, however, Flowers had the upper hand. He hasn’t faltered.

“We tried to provide a fair opportunity,” Fenwick said. “I feel we’ve done that.”

Because the Monarchs have routed several opponents, Fenwick has been able to give Lins, Hernandez and Connors some action. They have played in the same game four times, including last week in a 55-12 blowout of L.A. Southwest.

Lins has completed 28 of 43 passes with five touchdowns, Hernandez is nine of 12 for 127 yards and a touchdown and Connors is four of eight for 29 yards.

Although their chances to direct the Monarch run-and-shoot have been few, the reserves are quick to give Flowers credit and say there’s no animosity among them.

“At first, there was a lot of competition, but now we are really tight,” Connors said. “We are all really good friends.”

Still, the inactivity might have discouraged the guys and prompted them to look for alternatives. But Hernandez and Lins maintain that they will return to Valley next season. Connors, who gained college credits during a brief stint at UC Davis, hasn’t decided.

Regardless, all are content with their roles, at least outwardly.

“What got me to stick around is that all the coaches are so knowledgeable,” Hernandez said. “It’s a lot of fun to get this great coaching. In high school, we thought we ran the run-and-shoot. But it was all set patterns. Here, this is the real thing.”

Hernandez hopes he’ll see some real playing time next season.

“Lins and I will be going at it,” he said.