Field Report

Don’t feel sorry for Valencia, which will lose one of the region’s best all-time running backs after this season.

Manuel White may be moving on to UCLA, but the Vikings might still have a full cupboard.

Several starters, including defensive tackle-tight end Kaelen Jakes, will return from a lineup that spent much of the season ranked No. 3 in Division III, and the freshman and junior varsity teams were a combined 19-0-1.

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Through most of the season, Crescenta Valley and Valencia were ranked among the top five in Division III and didn’t figure to meet until about the semifinals.

Losses by both teams in the final week of the regular season resulted in an unusually tough first-round draw.

“We’re treating this like our semifinal,” Coach Alan Eberhart of Crescenta Valley said. “With a win, next week would be our final against Notre Dame. If we’re fortunate enough to get past that, we’ll have to think of what to call the following week.”