Valley Gets Past Pierce on a Pass

Tom Racius passed for 425 yards and five touchdowns, and Valley College kept Pierce reeling with a 44-21 victory in a Western State Conference interdivision game Saturday night at Valley.

Racius, who played sparingly last week because of illness, completed 27 of 37 passes and didn’t have a pass intercepted while leading Valley (4-1) to a fifth consecutive victory over the Brahmas (0-5), who lost their 23rd consecutive game.

Racius, who split time with backup Scott Collins, outdueld Pierce’s Dan McMullen, who completed 26 of 48 passes for 367 yards and two touchdowns.

“I lost 15 pounds last week,” Racius said. “But I’m fine. [Coach Gary Barlow] told me Scott was going to come in in the second quarter. He just wanted to give everybody an opportunity to play.

“It’s a big win for us. They’re the local school so we see their players every day.”

McMullen limped off the field with a hip pointer after having a pass intercepted for the second time in the game with five minutes left.

McMullen, the second-ranked passer in the WSC, led Pierce on two touchdown drives in the second quarter to pull the Brahmas to within 16-14 at the half.

But Racius, completing six in a row in one stretch, threw four touchdown passes in the second half to end Pierce’s threat for a first victory over Valley since 1991.

Racius connected with Leaford Hackett for a 22-yard touchdown that gave Valley a 23-14 lead early in the third quarter. He added scoring passes of 12 yards to Antwane Smith and eight yards to Kevin Carlsen, as Valley assumed a 37-14 lead late in the third quarter.

Valley parlayed a pair lengthy drives into a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Racius drove the Monarchs 80 yards in seven plays, throwing a 27-yard scoring pass to Randall Lane for a 7-0 lead. Racius set up the touchdown with a 37-yard completion to Lane.

The Monarchs drove from their 20 to the Pierce 15 before Kevin Myers kicked a 32-yard field goal. Racius connected with three receivers on the drive, including a shovel pass that Antwane Smith carried 32 yards for a first down at the Brahmas’ 9.

Pierce followed with a 79-yard drive that ended with a six-yard touchdown run by Rob Cavil.

Cavil ran 22 yards with a screen pass to give the Brahmas a first down at the Valley 28. Four plays later, after being sacked for a 16-yard loss, McMullen connected with Basil Duncantell for a first down at the three-yard line.

Valley built its lead to 16-7 on a 73-yard touchdown run by Armone Lochard late in the half.

In the final three minutes of the half, McMullen drove Pierce 66 yards, capping the march with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Duncantell with 25 seconds to play. Myers’ conversion pulled Pierce to within 16-14.

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* INSIDE: Gordon powers Moorpark past Ventura, 38-17. C14