Valencia's Defense Too Much for Vikings

"Special" was the one word football coach used in reference to Valencia's vaunted defense heading into Friday's nonleague game in Santa Clarita.

He might have another adjective to describe the purple-clad Vikings after they intercepted two passes, forced three fumbles and only allowed 175 offensive yards in handing Samohi its first loss of the season, 17-0. 

"We gave them opportunities," said Clark, whose team had turned the ball over 11 times in its previous two games against Valencia—all leading to scores. "We can't win games like this turning the ball over. We've gotta go correct that."

Their mascot (the Vikings) was not all the two teams had in common Friday night. Each also played hard-nosed, physical defense, except Valencia's was a little bit better.

Samohi's tailback tandem of Kori Garcia and London Lewis combined to rush for only 95 yards in 26 carries. The Vikings did pick off Valencia quarterback Sean Murphy once, but again Samohi's deepest wounds were self-inflicted.

"We talked about it all week, we worked on it all year," said Clark, whose team had not turned the ball over once in its first three games. "The turnovers just killed us."

After Valencia's junior linebacker Anthony Costleigh recovered a fumble late in the first quarter the home team marched nine plays, scoring on Cody Anciano's two-yard run that put Valencia ahead 7-0 with 8:09 left in the second quarter.

Samohi receiver Michael Jordan then fumbled and Valencia recovered, leading to a 31-yard field goal by Brett Schreiber and Valencia led 10-0 at halftime. Anciano added a 19-yard scoring run to close out the scoring late in the third quarter.

It was Valencia's second consecutive shutout. Samohi had blanked two of its first three opponents, but Clark knew his Vikings were taking a major step up in class Friday night.

"I expect it to be very tough and I'll be shocked if it's not," Clark had said before the game. "Valencia is going to be the favorite and should be given who they've played. I have a ton of respect for their program and I'm glad they kept us on their schedule because it means they consider us a worthy opponent."

Ranked ninth in the 's Northern Division poll, Valencia (2-2) has rebounded since back-to-back three-point losses to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (ranked just outside the top 10 in the Pac-5 Division) and West Hills Chaminade, ranked No. 2 in the Western Division.

Samohi travels to Compton next Friday night to play Centennial (4-0), the third-ranked team in the Northwest Division.

Also on Friday night, routed Blair of Pasadena 33-7 at to win its second straight game and improve to 3-2 heading into its final nonleague game against Santa Clarita Christian next Saturday in Canyon Country.

Score by Quarters

1

2

3

4

Final

Santa Monica

0

0

0

0

0

Valencia

0

10

7

0

17

Scoring Summary

Valencia -- Anciano 2 run (Schreiber kick), 8:13 left in 2nd qtr.

Valencia --Schreiber 31 field goal, 3:01 left in 2nd qtr.

Valencia -- Anciano 19 run (Schreiber kick), 3:50 left in 3rd qtr.

Records: Santa Monica 3-1; Valencia 2-2.