AN IMPERFECT FINISH VALENCIA FALLS IN DIV. II FINAL M. VIEJO 49, VALENCIA 21.Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer ANAHEIM - Michael Herrick peeled himself off the ground in the second quarter, grimaced grim·ace n. A sharp contortion of the face expressive of pain, contempt, or disgust. intr.v. grim·aced, grim·ac·ing, grim·ac·es To make a sharp contortion of the face. and went back into the huddle knowing it would just bring him more punishment. The crisp passing and immense heart that made Valencia High's football team the feel-good story of the year in Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, was flattened by the No. 1 team in the state. Herrick was sacked six times as Valencia lost 49-21 to Mission Viejo Mission Vi·e·jo A community of southern California southeast of Irvine. It is mainly residential. Population: 96,300. in the Southern Section Div. II final Saturday in front of 7,704 at Angel Stadium. If it's possible - and it might be with the hard hits Mission Viejo was distributing - the Vikings won't remember much of the championship game in the long run. The season meant much more to Valencia than one game. Losing to the team ranked No. 3 in the nation by USA Today USA Today National U.S. daily general-interest newspaper, the first of its kind. Launched in 1982 by Allen Neuharth, head of the Gannett newspaper chain, it reached a circulation of one million within a year and surpassed two million in the 1990s. will do nothing to diminish the Vikings' accomplishments this season. Valencia (12-2), in its ninth year playing varsity football, won its first Foothill League title and ended rival Hart of Newhall's hold on Santa Clarita. The Vikings set a school record for victories, losing only to Mission Viejo and Daily News No. 1 Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, which won the Div. III title Friday. All Valencia victories came by at least 17 points. Mission Viejo (14-0) has won three of the past four Div. II championships and 55 of its past 56 games, losing only to Hart in last year's title game. The final matched two of the best quarterbacks in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , Valencia's Michael Herrick and Mission Viejo's Mark Sanchez Mark Sanchez (born November 11, 1986 in Long Beach, CA) is a college football quarterback attending the University of Southern California (USC). High school career . Sanchez showed why he is bound for USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. in the fall, effectively leading most drives downfield down·field adv. & adj. Sports To, into, or in the defensive team's end of the field. Adj. 1. downfield - toward or in the defending team's end of the playing field; "he threw to a downfield receiver" . Sanchez had something to prove after being outplayed by Hart's Sean Norton, now at Fresno State, in last year's title game. He threw three interceptions in that defeat. Herrick tried to put Valencia on his shoulders, eluding e·lude tr.v. e·lud·ed, e·lud·ing, e·ludes 1. To evade or escape from, as by daring, cleverness, or skill: The suspect continues to elude the police. 2. constant pressure to make some nice throws. But his will was undone by key mistakes from him and his teammates. Herrick's first pass of the game was intercepted. Although the Valencia defense initially held the Diablos, the interception enabled Mission Viejo to starting its second drive at the Valencia 35. Diablos running back Chane Moline scored from 1 yard to give Mission Viejo a 7-0 lead. A snap over punter Brian Malette's head, although recovered and kicked on a nice recovery, led to a 24-yard punt to give Mission Viejo strong field position again. Sanchez followed with a 53-yard touchdown pass to Sean Fitzgerald that put the Diablos ahead 14-0. On Valencia's best drive of the first half, receiver Jason Trujillo fumbled the ball away at the Mission Viejo 21. On the Vikings' next possession, Herrick overthrew a receiver on one of his few bad passes of the game. Chris Holmesly returned the interception to the Valencia 3-yard line, and Moline followed it up with his second touchdown of the game. Mission Viejo led 28-0 at the half. Herrick kept getting up from the sacks and continuing to try to break Mission Viejo's stout defense. It finally happened early in the third quarter, when Herrick hit Chris Wright Chris Wright may refer to:
Mission Viejo quickly answered back, driving 80 yards down the field to score on Moline's fourth touchdown run of the game. Herrick ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. He threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Shane Bothwell late in the fourth. Valencia does not have a good history in title games. The Vikings had been to the championship twice before, in 1999 and 2001, and were routed each time by Foothill League rival Hart of Newhall. With key players like the junior Herrick and sophomore Vereen returning, Valencia will try to learn from this experience and take that final step next year. Matthew Kredell, (818) 713-3607 matthew.kredell(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Mission Viejo's Sonny McCraken celebrates a second-quarter sack of Valencia's Michael Herrick during the Div. II final. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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