Village Christian Is Buried Under Yucca Valley’s Rush

GRANADA HILLS-On the final play of Friday’s Southern Section Division XI semifinal, Village Christian High quarterback Jeff Johnston wound up in the same position he endured most of the night.

Prone and under a large body in a Yucca Valley uniform.

Johnston was sacked seven times, had a pass intercepted and lost a fumble in a 7-6 loss at Kennedy High. But his woes were only symptoms of a larger illness: the Crusaders’ inability to block a larger, stronger team.

“They had us outweighed by 30 pounds a man on their defensive line and it showed,” Village Christian Coach Mike Plaisance said. “Their nose guard ate us alive.”

Maybe so, but the Trojan defensive ends and linebackers also had their fill. Nonetheless, the Crusaders (10-3) kept it close with gritty defense of their own and a fourth-quarter touchdown to close within a point.

After that score, an 11-yard pass from Johnston to tight end Tim Gustafson with eight minutes 28 seconds to play, Plaisance called for a fake conversion kick.

Kicker Matt Ryburn swung his leg as holder Johnston plucked the ball and flipped it to Aaron Funk on an end-around play. Funk was tackled short of the goal line, but Plaisance defended his call.

“We’d had a field goal blocked earlier and [Ryburn] wasn’t kicking the ball well in warmups,” Plaisance said. “I thought the defense would hold them and we’d get another shot.”

The Crusader defense forced a punt on the next series and Village Christian took over on its 33 with five minutes to play.

Johnston drove the team to the Yucca Valley 48, but with 2:59 to play he was sacked by Trojan end Steven Grode and fumbled. Yucca Valley’s Hank Behrens recovered at the Crusader 32 and the game was effectively over.

“We’ve never had a team come after us like that,” Johnston said. “They were hitting every blitz. I could see receivers on only about 40% of the [passing] plays.”

Yucca Valley (7-6) scored in the first half after driving 64 yards in 17 running plays. James Cunningham scored on a two-yard run and Kevin Lesko kicked the extra point.