Monarchs prevail with their first win against the Cougars

Big moments by Jason Wagner and Dennis Wallace led the Monarchs to a win against the Cougars.

By Kevin Khachatryan, Staff Writer

Sophomore Defensive Back Dennis Wallace makes an interception catch and takes it all the way for a touchdown. (Valley Star | Daniel Prado)

Despite the strong arm of Monarchs Quarterback Dylan Foli, Valley barely scraped by and defeated the lower rated Cougars 45-32.

Valley College football (1-2) ended its two-game losing streak after beating Los Angeles Southwest College (0-3) at home in an offensive battle on Saturday afternoon. With three touchdown passes by freshman quarterback Dylan Foli, Valley was just productive enough in the second half to keep a two-possession lead and come away with a 45-32 victory.

“Even though we won, I feel like we lost,” said head coach Lester Towns. “We should not have allowed that team to score as many points as they did. I feel like we need to come back together to watch the tape and watch the corrections.”

On the first play of the game, Foli connected a 45 yard pass to receiver Jason Wagner on a 3rd and five, resulting in a field goal. After Valley got off to a 3-0 lead, Southwest quarterback threw an interception that was picked off by defensive back Dennis Wallace who ran a 48 yard touchdown with 9:50 remaining in the first quarter.

With the first quarter coming to a close, an offside penalty on the Monarchs helped the Cougars gain 5 yards on a 4th and four, setting them up for a touchdown to end the quarter. Valley committed a total of three penalties in the 1st half, including two personal fouls.

Opening up the second quarter, the Monarchs ran three plays for a total of 62 yards in 55 seconds, culminating with a 34 yard touchdown pass by Foli to freshman wide receiver Graham Blubaugh.

The momentum looked to have shifted in Valley’s favor after they scored a total of three touchdowns in the second quarter bringing the score to 17-6. But the Cougars responded quickly with an 88 yard kickoff return, shifting the game to a five point deficit opening the 2nd quarter.

The Monarchs continued to put points on the board to end the quarter, with back-to-back touchdown receptions by Wagner following multiple stops on the defensive end, bringing the score to 31-20.

One accurate pass after another by Foli gave the Monarchs the advantage in this game, finishing the game with a near 50 percent completion rate for 164 yards and three touchdowns.

Coming into this game, both teams lost their previous two games and only scored in double digits one time. Leaving the door wide open for an easy blow-out win for the Monarchs because Southwest Football allowed over 58 points and a total of 330 yards this season.

Valley failed to maintain control of the game because every time they scored a touchdown, their defense would fail to stop the Cougar’s offense, allowing 261 passing yards and 117 rushing yards.

After the game, even though the Monarchs won, Coach Towns was not happy with the team's defense.

“When I reflect back on the week, they had a really good week at practice,” said Towns. “As a coach, you wanna have those days where you gotta motivate them, and for the most I was proud of the energy they brought to the game.”

The Monarch’s next game is on the road on Saturday, Sep. 24 at 6 p.m against Citrus College.