Seven turnovers too much to overcome for Monarchs against Antelope Valley

Four interceptions and three fumbles left Valley College’s offense hopeless for the entire game, resulting in a 47-8 blow-out loss to Antelope Valley College.

By Kevin Khachatryan, Staff Writer

(L-R) Christian Mills, Daniel Mauricio, Joseph Paynter stand on the sideline watching their teammates struggle against the Antelope Valley Pioneers. The Monarchs lost 47-8. (Arash Shafa | Valley Star)

With Valley College suffering a host of injuries on the offense and defensive lines and several miscues from its quarterbacks, the home team proved no match for visiting Antelope Valley College, losing its first conference contest Saturday 47-8.

The Monarch’s record dropped to 1-5 on the season and 0-1 in the American Pacific League. Head coach Lester Towns said that his offense did not live up to expectations, and the defense struggled to stay in the game.

“Offensively it wasn’t the oiled-machine that you see at practice,” Towns said. “We only have five [offensive] lineman on the offensive line, and we have no D lineman to sub in for the players who are playing in the entire game.”

By halftime, the Pioneers had the Monarchs down 33-2. All of the damage was done on the ground with sophomore running back Que Allen scoring twice on runs of 5 and 8 yards. Allen’s teammate and quarterback Daryus Warren added to the scoring with a 2-yard run, increasing the visitor’s lead to 26-2. Antelope Valley added more points with its fourth rushing touchdown before the end of the half when freshman running back Jackson Marshall punched in a 15-yard touchdown.

Late in the second quarter, Valley tried to shake things up and benched quarterback Dylan Foli for freshman signal caller Andy Chavez. Chavez fumbled the ball with under five minutes left which gave the opposing team the ball back. The second turnover came early in the third quarter when Christopher Early picked off Chavez to give the visitors the ball back.

The Monarch’s lone score in the opening half came from the defensive side of the ball. On a second and 8, the Monarchs defense sacked quarterback Daruys Warren at the 6:22 mark to put two points on the board.

Pioneer running back added his third rushing touchdown of the game in the third quarter. The back touched the ball on nine-straight plays, collecting 22 yards and capping off his last run with a 4-yard score. This pushed the visiting team’s lead to 40-2.

Teammate Jackson Marshall padded to the Pioneers lead by scoring his second touchdown of the game. Running 20 yards in 12 plays, he capped off the final rushing touchdown of the game for Antelope Valley, making the score 47-8.

The Monarchs only touchdown of the game came thanks to sophomore safety Gannon Ginnis, who intercepted a pass on a fourth and 3 at Antelopes’s 34-yard line. A personal foul against the Pioneers put Valley on the Antelope’s 11 yard line. Foli, who came back in the game and replaced Chavez in the third quarter, threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Matthew at the 11-minute mark in the fourth quarter. Valley missed on the 2-point try..

Valley’s offense struggled most of the game with its quarterbacks throwing four interceptions and the offense only collecting 159 yards..

“It’s just frustrating for me right now, “ said Towns. “We have the talent to do what we need to do, it just always starts with the quarterbacks. I always tell the quarterbacks before the game, if they’re not on point then we suffer as an offense.

Valley will travel to Santa Barbara on Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest against the first place Vaqueros.