Crescenta Valley Catches White in Full Stride and Valencia Wins

Valencia High simply ran Crescenta Valley out of the Southern Section playoffs.

Junior Manuel White rushed for two touchdowns and a season-high 275 of the Vikings’ 463 yards in a 42-19 Division III first round victory Friday night at Canyon High.

“He’s an awesome back,” Crescenta Valley Coach Alan Eberhart said. “We blitzed and tried everything but we couldn’t stop them. They wore on us.”

Valencia (8-3) scored on three of its first four possessions, taking a 21-12 halftime lead.

After Derrel Furutani’s four-yard run pulled the Falcons (6-5) to within 21-19 with 5:37 remaining in the third quarter, the Vikings scored on their next three possessions.

White scored on a six-yard run with 1:14 remaining in the third quarter to cap a seven-play, 65-yard drive which included 14 and 12-yard runs by quarterback Brian Hamilton and an 18-yard run by Ray Cassaday.

White’s 50-yard run on the Vikings’ next posession set up a 13-yard touchdown run by Hamilton with 9:32 to play.

Hamilton finished with four touchdowns on a season-high 91 yards in 19 carries, a total skewed by a 22-yard second-quarter loss on a fumble.

White had six carries of 20 yards or more after the Falcons opened the game by marching 66 yards in six plays, culminating with quarterback Seth Santoro’s four-yard run.

White’s 49-yard touchdown tied the score and Valencia scored 1:12 later on Hamilton’s nine-yard run, three plays after Adrian Dyrness recovered Jason Hogan’s fumble at the Crescenta Valley 21-yard line.

Hamilton ran 17 yards for his second touchdown early in the second quarter, one play after White’s 31-yard run.

Furutani rushed for 66 yards in 17 carries, including a one-yard touchdown with 1:20 remaining in the first half that cut Valencia’s lead to 21-12.

Cassaday rushed for 73 yards in 10 carries.

Valencia will face Crespi, a 17-7 victor over Littlerock, in a second-round game Friday night.