VALLEY VICTORY MARCH

Army-Navy it’s not.

Yet, the football rivalry between Pierce and Valley colleges, which play for the 30th time in a Western State Conference interdivision game Saturday night at Valley, has provided moments.

Like the inaugural 1965 meeting, in which Valley won, 26-6, at Valley before a crowd of 5,500 and a live local television audience.

Or the 1975 game, generally considered the series’ best, when Pierce escaped with a 53-49 victory after time expired with Valley at the Brahmas’ four-yard line.

Valley won the first five games. Pierce won the next seven and holds a 16-13 series edge. Yet, the Brahmas haven’t defeated Valley since 1991, a glaring indicator of how lopsided the rivalry between the Valley’s two junior college football teams has become.

Perhaps a pendulum would make a more appropriate trophy than the Victory Bell the teams traditionally play for each season.

Valley (3-1), ranked seventh in Southern California, is a perennial power in pursuit of a fifth consecutive bowl-game appearance.

Pierce (0-4) has a 22-game losing streak, including an 80-20 loss to Valley last season, and is still plagued by budget woes that forced the program to shut down for two years in 1986.

“We’re trying to find a way to turn this thing around,” Pierce Coach Bill Norton said. “The message I give to my team is that this is a pride game, an honor game.”

Whether the trend continues or a shift in momentum is due is debatable. But clearly, three primary reasons stand out to explain Valley’s dominance over Pierce in recent years. They are:

* Jim Fenwick

Now in his first season as coach at Cal State Northridge, Fenwick, a former running back for Pierce, built winning programs at Pierce and Valley.

Fenwick, who scored on a two-yard run to help the Brahmas defeat Valley, 24-14, in 1970, coached Pierce to three bowl-game appearances during his tenure from 1981 to 1985. The Brahmas’ 1984 team, led by quarterback Erik Kramer, now with the Chicago Bears, was 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation before losing to Taft in the Potato Bowl.

In 1991, Fenwick became coach at Valley and compiled a 49-14-1 record in six seasons and led the Monarchs to a national-title game in 1995. All told, Fenwick was 8-2 as a coach in Pierce-Valley games.

“I was fortunate enough to be in both those situations,” Fenwick said. “I have fond memories of my days at Valley and I have fond memories of my days at Pierce.”

Fenwick’s success with both programs is a testimony to his skills and charisma as a coach and recruiter. He installed the run-and-shoot offense that has become Valley’s hallmark and developed talented assistants, including Gary Barlow, who succeeded Fenwick this season.

“Jim understood that doing things for your players to make them feel like they’re in a classy environment directly affected the way they played,” said Chuck Ferrero, Valley’s athletic director and coach from 1980-89.

Fenwick’s influence will be felt at Valley for at least another year, since he recruited many of its current players.

Said Fenwick: “We just had a way of selling what we had and making what we had the best. When you win, it’s another tool to help the school attract not only athletes but students. Your athletes, in a couple of years, will be your best recruiters.”

* Valley’s players

A scan of both rosters reveals a better collection of talent at Valley than at Pierce.

The presence of Fenwick and the Monarchs’ success is an obvious drawing card. So is the fact that Valley has sent 14 players to Division I colleges each of the past two years.

“When you put forth a good athletic program, [athletes] recognize the effort and want to be a part of it,” Barlow said.

Few high school players plan on attending a junior college. But for many of those without a Division-I scholarship, Valley appears more attractive than Pierce--even if it means sitting on the bench.

Case in point: the Monarchs have three tailbacks battling for the starting position. Antwane Smith, Armone Lochard and Jamian Barbour all were standouts at high schools in the region. Any of the three likely would be starting at Pierce, but Norton was unsuccessful recruiting them.

Defensive end Ryan Hourigan played one season at Pierce after graduating from Hart High in 1993. After participating in a two-year religious mission, Hourigan transferred to Valley, largely because more of his friends played there than at Pierce.

“Obviously, Pierce’s program has gone downhill,” Hourigan said. “They just haven’t been successful for some time.”

Linebacker Jeff Macrea, who commuted by bus from his Hollywood home to El Camino Real High for three years, bypassed Pierce in favor of Valley because he craved challenge.

“I went to Valley because I wanted to know how good I was,” Macrea said. “What I like about Valley is the organization. I attended a spring practice at UCLA when I was in high school, and a Valley practice is exactly the same. Good coaches, and everything is organized.”

Valley’s coaching staff might be exceptional. But the infusion of top athletes has provided depth and fueled the Monarchs’ attack. Pierce has been forced to make do with what’s left.

“We’ve got some good freshmen in here from some good programs, but there are some kids who didn’t even want to come look here,” Norton said. “They didn’t even want to look. Some of them are going to sit on the bench over there and struggle to play their second year when they’d be playing for us.”

Pierce quarterback Dan McMullen, a 1995 Kennedy graduate, enrolled at Pierce after taking a year off from school and is performing well in his second season as a starter. At Valley, McMullen likely would be struggling for playing time.

Defensive back Devin Harvey, a standout at Highland High, opted for Pierce because he wanted to be a “big fish in a small pond.”

“Valley has always had one of the better teams in the conference and a lot of players want to go there,” Harvey said. “But I don’t have any regrets at all. I like Coach Norton a lot. He’s one of the main reasons I came here.”

* Valley’s administration

Budget cuts have taken their toll at Pierce. The college is trying to overcome a $4.8-million deficit, caused primarily by declining enrollment from 1982 to 1996. Consequently, Pierce’s weight room, locker room and other facilities are in decline.

“I don’t think it’s a major thing, but I think it matters,” Norton said. “We haven’t had hot water in our showers since the [Northridge] earthquake. Take a look at [Valley’s] weight room and then take a look at ours.”

Facilities at Valley are markedly better. But the financial outlook is far from rosy, Ferrero said.

“We haven’t avoided [budget cuts], believe me,” he said. “We’ve had a tight budget for many years. I’m sticking a square peg in a round hole every day. It’s [a matter of] finding a way to continue to progress with an ever-shrinking budget and finding ways to bring more money into the program.”

Ferrero perennially has engineered successful fund-raising efforts, including an annual golf tournament and high school summer passing league tournament. A private donation funded the complete renovation of the weight room this year.

Equally significant is Valley’s continuity in the chain of command. While Pierce has witnessed a revolving door of administrators in recent years, Valley’s administrative staff has remained largely intact and highly supportive of athletics.

“You’ve got to have people with all their oars in the water working together to have a successful program” Ferrero said. “Our success is based on a complete administration and a complete coaching staff.”

Carlos Martinez, dean of academic affairs and athletic administration at Pierce, conceded that Pierce administrators might be less passionate than those at Valley. But support is growing, he said. Administrators currently are reorganizing the Pierce Foundation, a fund-raising arm that has been ineffective in recent years.

“Athletics, perhaps, hasn’t played as big a part in the lives of some administrators here,” Martinez said. “But the programs are funded. I think Valley’s program is a strong program with a reputation and they’re going to get a lot of players who want to go there. But our support is there. Our attendance at football games is quite good.”

A victory would do wonders for Pierce’s morale, say nothing for the good of the rivalry. But indications point toward continued Valley success.

“Times have changed,” Ferrero said. “But I have faith that Pierce will come back and continue to be a good program.”

Norton, pointing to the series’ history, said the pendulum simply is in full swing--in Valley’s direction. But the Brahmas, the coach said, will have their day.

“I have no plans to quit or give up,” Norton said. “I know the future holds for us a game at Valley College at 7 and I hope we play the game of our lives and win.”