2008 Woodie Awards
Valley Football Wins Opener
Monarchs beat San Diego Mesa 22-10 in the opener where the defense forced five turnovers.
Sam Hahn
Issue date: 9/8/04 Section: Sports
SAN DIEGO-After finishing a disappointing 1-9 season last year, The Valley Monarch football team looked to start anew as Valley opened the season with a 22-10 victory over San Diego Mesa Olympians.
"Coming into this season, no one is counting on us to do much," said head coach Ron Ponciano. "Because we only won one game last year, we're pretty much the underdog and we like it that way."
Entering Friday's game, Valley made some personnel changes in the off-season with the hiring of offensive coordinator Don Fellows, and defensive coordinator Leon Criner (who helped orchestrate Canyons' 11-1 state championship season last year).
The defense (setting up on Criner's 3-3 defense) set the tone early as defensive end Lazajuan Burnett picked up a sack on Olympian quarterback Cameron Poeschel before Geoff Tisdale intercepted a pass thrown by Poeschel.
"This is probably the best defense that I've ever played for," explained Tisdale. "[The defense] is trying to go out there and make plays. That's all we're trying to do."
Trailing after giving up a 35-yard field goal to Olympian kicker Brian Courtney late in the first quarter, the Monarch offense roared back in the second, as quarterback Max Parra scored on a quarterback draw from five yards out to take the lead 6-3.
"The game plan was to go out there and execute our plays," said a confident Parra, who finished the game with 105 yards on 9-16, and 125 rushing yards.
Valley took control of the first half on the Olympian's second possession as free safety Lamane Dixon recovered a fumble that allowed the Monarchs to drive down the field with receiver Charles Harris and Parra gaining 38 and 33 yards respectively before Monarch kicker Shaun Avalos failed to convert from 27 yards.
Running back Edric Prim and Parra took control of the second half as Prim gained 152 yards of the 258 yards Valley amassed, which was highlighted by a 58 yard touchdown run early in the third quarter that pushed the lead to 12-3.
After stopping an Olympian drive that ended with a huge stop on fourth and 1, the Monarchs turned the ball over on downs before getting the ball back on a interception by Tisdale that lead to a 22-yard field goal by Shaun Avalos early in the fourth quarter.
San Diego turned the ball over once again as Linebacker Brian Murphy picked up a sack on Poeschel before the Olympian quarterback threw his third interception of the game to Defensive end Chris Green.
"Coming into this season, no one is counting on us to do much," said head coach Ron Ponciano. "Because we only won one game last year, we're pretty much the underdog and we like it that way."
 Media Credit: Greg Burmann Sports football vs San Diego Mesa #22 runningback Davveon Taylor |
Entering Friday's game, Valley made some personnel changes in the off-season with the hiring of offensive coordinator Don Fellows, and defensive coordinator Leon Criner (who helped orchestrate Canyons' 11-1 state championship season last year).
The defense (setting up on Criner's 3-3 defense) set the tone early as defensive end Lazajuan Burnett picked up a sack on Olympian quarterback Cameron Poeschel before Geoff Tisdale intercepted a pass thrown by Poeschel.
"This is probably the best defense that I've ever played for," explained Tisdale. "[The defense] is trying to go out there and make plays. That's all we're trying to do."
Trailing after giving up a 35-yard field goal to Olympian kicker Brian Courtney late in the first quarter, the Monarch offense roared back in the second, as quarterback Max Parra scored on a quarterback draw from five yards out to take the lead 6-3.
"The game plan was to go out there and execute our plays," said a confident Parra, who finished the game with 105 yards on 9-16, and 125 rushing yards.
Valley took control of the first half on the Olympian's second possession as free safety Lamane Dixon recovered a fumble that allowed the Monarchs to drive down the field with receiver Charles Harris and Parra gaining 38 and 33 yards respectively before Monarch kicker Shaun Avalos failed to convert from 27 yards.
Running back Edric Prim and Parra took control of the second half as Prim gained 152 yards of the 258 yards Valley amassed, which was highlighted by a 58 yard touchdown run early in the third quarter that pushed the lead to 12-3.
After stopping an Olympian drive that ended with a huge stop on fourth and 1, the Monarchs turned the ball over on downs before getting the ball back on a interception by Tisdale that lead to a 22-yard field goal by Shaun Avalos early in the fourth quarter.
San Diego turned the ball over once again as Linebacker Brian Murphy picked up a sack on Poeschel before the Olympian quarterback threw his third interception of the game to Defensive end Chris Green.
