Valley Stars Steal Show in the Second Act, 53-28

Everything seemed so even at first.

Valley College and Glendale squared off in an entertaining and see-saw first half but the Monarchs turned on the heat after intermission for a 53-28 victory in a Western State Conference interdivision game Saturday night.

The Monarchs (3-1) had to dance toe-to-toe with Glendale (2-2) for the first 30 minutes, and trailed, 21-18, at halftime.

But David Lins and Marcus Harvey rallied the Monarchs in their home opener. Lins completed 21 of 33 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns, and Harvey had 130 yards in 10 carries and one score.

Sophomore Eric Ruhle finished with six receptions for 124 yards, his fourth game with 100 or more yards receiving.

Valley iced the game with 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, when Lins connected with tight end Willie Perryman on scoring passes of nine and four yards, and Lins’ backup, Tom Racius, hooked up with Randall Lane on a five-yard pass.

Glendale had fine performances by its tandem of Ramone Archie, who gained 127 yards in 17 carries and two touchdowns, and Rahsaan Harrison, who had 100 yards in 15 carries and one touchdown.

Glendale struck first, marching 80 yards in 16 plays in the opening drive to take a 6-0 lead on Archie’s three-yard run.

Valley, which had only four possessions in the first half, countered in a flash.

The Monarchs took all of three plays on their first possession, using a 62-yard run by Harvey to the Glendale one to set up Antwane Smith’s scoring run.

Glendale answered with a four-yard touchdown run by Archie for a 12-7 lead. Archie helped set up the score with a 34-yard run two plays before the touchdown.

The Monarchs pulled to within 12-10 on a 43-yard field goal by Jose Cortez early in the second quarter. But a high snap over Cortez’s head in punt formation moments later turned into a safety when the ball rolled out of the end zone, giving Glendale a 14-10 advantage.

Archie scored again with 5 minutes 11 seconds to play in the first half to put Glendale ahead, 21-10, but Valley struck 18 seconds later on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Lins to Joey Orlando that got Valley to within 21-18 at the half.

Orlando finished with three receptions for 70 yards and Perryman had three catches for 18 yards.