Sylmar Given a Scare Before Dropping Reseda

After watching its 69-game league winning steak come to an end last week, Sylmar High was hoping to start a new one Friday night against Reseda.

The Spartans never expected it to be this difficult.

It took a 12-yard touchdown pass from John Valdez to Clifford Johnson with 13 seconds remaining for Sylmar to pull out a 20-16 victory in a critical Valley Mission League game at Sylmar High.

“Basically we needed to have a gut check, and to [the players’] credit, they played very well,” Sylmar Coach Jeff Engilman said.

Reseda (7-2, 2-2 in league play) appeared on its way to an upset with less than a minute remaining.

That was before David Contreras returned a punt 33 yards to the Reseda 44-yard line with 42 seconds to play.

On the first play from scrimmage, Valdez threw a bounce pass on a lateral to Phil Samano and he hooked up with Eddie Gomez for a 32-yard completion. Two plays later, Valdez found Johnson in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

“I just didn’t want to throw an interception,” Valdez said. “I wanted to throw a complete ball, and he was wide open.”

Even after the touchdown, the Spartans (6-3, 3-1) still had to withstand one last gasp from the Regents.

Two personal foul penalties against Sylmar on the final play of the game gave Reseda one last chance at the Sylmar 44.

The Regents almost made the Spartans pay dearly.

Quarterback Carlos Hernandez fired a desperation pass toward wide receiver Danny Sandoval, who nearly came down with it at the one-yard line.

“I tried to tip it back so my teammate could catch it,” Sandoval said. “We should have had it.”

Sylmar won behind a brilliant defensive effort in the second half.

After trailing, 16-7, at halftime, the Spartans gave up only 45 yards in the second half.

Meanwhile, Sylmar rolled up 181 yards in the second half to finish with 286 in the game.

“As poorly as we were playing in the first half, that’s how well we played in the second half,” Engilman said.

Valdez completed six of 12 passes for 73 yards and Isidro Medina rushed for 63 yards in 11 carries for the Spartans.

Sylmar won despite an impressive performance by Reseda running back Eddie Robinson, who rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries.

Robinson, a junior, has rushed for 1,105 yards and 14 touchdowns this season.

The victory didn’t come without a price. Sylmar defensive back Donnell Livingston, who has six interceptions, sustained a fractured clavicle in the first quarter and will miss the rest of the season.