Valencia rallies to beat Hart for fourth consecutive Foothill League crown
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- Valencia scored 24 points in less than 12 minutes, turning a six-point deficit into a 45-26 victory over rival Hart at College of the Canyons.
- The win secured the Vikings’ fourth consecutive Foothill League title and their 14th in 16 seasons.
Valencia scored 24 points in less than 12 minutes Friday, turning a tight game at halftime into a 45-26 victory over Hart to claim a fourth straight Foothill League title at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita.
“You never get tired of it,” said Valencia coach Larry Muir, who has won 14 of the last 16 league championships. “Our kids played terrific in the second half. First half, we didn’t show up. At halftime, I felt like, ‘OK, let’s go out of this funk a little bit and just keep it simple and execute.’ And they did a great job of that.”
With junior quarterback Camren Ketner completing 14 of 17 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns, Hart (8-2, 5-1) ran out to a 20-14 lead with less than 35 seconds left in the second quarter. But the Vikings trimmed the lead on Tyler Thornton’s 33-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
Freshman quarterback Paytyn Guess rallies the Monarchs with two touchdowns in the final four minutes as Mater Dei claims second place in the Trinity League.
Anthony Vernon started the Valencia comeback in earnest on the second-half kickoff, fielding a squib kick near the sideline and weaving 62 yards to the end zone to give the Vikings the lead for good.
Hart’s next possession ended in a sack, followed by a fumble at the Valencia 25, setting up a 44-yard touchdown pass from running back Nico Funez to senior wide receiver Caysen Badawi to make it 38-20
“In practice, we ran it probably four or five times and we didn’t complete it one time,” Muir said. “Not once.”
Funez completed it when it counted.
Senior running back Matix Frithsmith’s third touchdown of the game — and 30th of the season — pulled the Hawks to within 12 points early in the fourth quarter, but Valencia (8-2, 6-0) needed just two minutes and five seconds to match that, capping its drive with a 32-yard touchdown run from Badawi.
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Vernon then sealed the win with an interception with 7:13 remaining.
Ketner, who looked so comfortable in the first half, was harassed in the second, completing just five passes to finish 19 for 29. Silas Tucker was Ketner’s favorite target, grabbing nine passes for 117 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
For Valencia, Funez ran for two touchdowns, in addition to throwing for another.
