Valencia Wins by 3 Stokes

All week long, the talk centered on the big names with the big games, Manuel White of Valencia High and Travis Johnson of Notre Dame.

But in the end, it was a dose of small ball that drove Valencia past Notre Dame in a Southern Section Division III quarterfinal game.

Stephen Stokes, who is listed at 5 feet 8 and might actually be that while wearing cleats, caught three long touchdown passes, including an 88-yarder with 1:38 to play to lead Valencia to a 26-21 victory Friday night at Canyon High.

Stokes was carried off the field on the shoulders of Valencia fans in what can safely be called the Vikings’ biggest victory ever.

Stunning? Yes, considering the Vikings trailed, 21-7, at halftime and showed few signs of life.

Staggering? Perhaps, considering that Valencia is only in its fifth year of varsity football while Notre Dame has been considered one of the strongest programs in the region for decades.

But there were the Vikings, trailing, 21-20, and facing fourth and 18 on their 12-yard line with under two minutes to play.

Not the time to punt, said Valencia Coach Brian Stiman.

“We’re making a stand now,” he said. “Let’s go do it.”

Stokes did it.

He ran a fly pattern down the right sideline and caught a perfectly thrown ball by Kyle Bauer.

The touchdown was the third of the night for Stokes, who also had scoring receptions of 46 and 41 yards.

“I just ran down the sideline,” he said. “We’ve been doing that the last two games. I just try to think touchdown.”

The unseeded Vikings (9-3) play either Saugus or Highland next Saturday at a site to be determined.

In appeared that the high school career of Johnson, not White, would last one more week.

After Stokes scored with 8:31 left to pull Valencia within a point, Johnson, who is being recruited by several colleges, burst up the middle and blocked the extra-point attempt by Zack Sapp.

But after Chris Thomsen missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt with 3:31 left, No. 2-seeded Notre Dame (10-2) couldn’t stop Valencia on its next possession.

“I didn’t want to go out like this,” Johnson said. “I was supposed to go out on top.”

Notre Dame took a 21-7 lead with 1:10 left in the second quarter on a 13-yard run by quarterback Jonathon Brewster, who finished with 95 yards passing and 81 yards rushing.

But Stokes and Bauer began to connect with 3:30 left in the third quarter, and Stokes got behind the Notre Dame secondary for a 41-yard touchdown on a fly pattern.

White, who will attend UCLA, finished with 52 yards in 17 carries and moved to fifth in the state with 6,381 career yards rushing. He passed former Notre Dame running back Justin Fargas, who had 6,352 yards. Fargas, who is at Michigan, was in attendance Friday.

White credited Stokes, who had six catches for 212 yards. “He picked it up,” White said. “That’s one player who stepped up tonight.”