Last Year’s Memory Could Spark Moribund Valley

They’ve had a search posse roaming Valley College all week.

Not to worry, though. They are not on a manhunt nor poking around for stolen goods.

They are not even looking for the Valley football team’s defense, the one that has coughed up 66 points and 881 yards in two games.

That one already has caught Jack Kevorkian’s eye.

What they are trying to find is the deja vu factor.

When you are headed for Bakersfield, as Valley is for a rare Friday night game against the Renegades at Memorial Stadium, you need every possible edge.

Or be mauled and tossed over the edge.

They don’t take prisoners in that place. They are not football games as much as public sacrifices. No intruder can hope to see the thumbs-up sign directed at him.

The weak and injured don’t stand much of a chance. Bakersfield has destroyed opponents by scores of 75-7, 68-7 and 60-0, to mention just a few of the more horrific episodes.

Since it opened in 1955, Bakersfield has lost only 45 games at Memorial Stadium, aptly named for the funerals staged for opposing teams.

Without a doubt, the Renegades have the candles and floral arrangements ready for Valley’s visit.

Let’s face it, the Monarchs haven’t looked like the picture of health. They opened the season ranked fourth in the state but escaped with a 35-34 victory at West L.A. on Sept. 14 and lost at Santa Barbara City College last Saturday, 32-26.

The Monarchs are 12th in defense in the 13-team Western State Conference, giving up 440.5 yards per game. They might be last but nobody knows where Pierce fits in, because the Brahmas haven’t bothered to report their statistics.

For a team that last season finished 10-1, nearly claimed the mythical national championship and handed Bakersfield a surprising loss on its home field, that’s a seriously moribund start.

That’s where that deja vu stuff comes in.

The Monarchs, young and inexperienced at key positions--particularly on defense--are overmatched by Bakersfield. Not an unfamiliar position, mind you, for many opponents over the years.

The Renegades won their opener, 43-7, against West Hills and last week drilled Moorpark, 40-22.

They average 371.5 yards, nearly two-thirds of those on the ground.

Bakersfield is ranked second in the state; Valley has skidded to 19th.

But maybe the Valley coaches will gather the new players on the team for a little story-telling, a history lesson, before the WSC interdivisional game.

They could enlist the help of the sophomores, who already know the ending, to provide insightful tidbits.

The coaches could explain how the Monarchs, ranked fourth at the time, traveled to Bakersfield last September and toppled the Renegades from their perch atop the state rankings with a 33-30 victory before 6,843 stunned eyewitnesses.

The veterans could recount how the Monarchs immediately catapulted into a tie with El Camino for the No. 1 ranking in California, knocking Bakersfield to 12th, and how they later rose to the top slot in one national poll.

They could talk about how that warm night in Bakersfield evaporated the ghosts of past debacles, of 16 consecutive defeats at Memorial Stadium, of 13 straight losses to the Renegades on any field.

All of which could motivate the Monarchs, give them confidence, spark the highly talented but noncohesive defense to step it up or crumble again, this time leaving behind more bones for that graveyard the Renegades call home.

Valley has a tough challenge, but maybe that posse will come through after all.