Valley Dodges Bullets and Wins, 24-21

SANTA MONICA — Live by the pass, and almost perish because of it.

Valley College has Sean Fitzgerald, one of the best quarterbacks in the state, but allowed two passing touchdowns to Santa Monica before posting a 24-21 victory in a Western State Conference game Saturday night.

Fitzgerald completed 18 of 38 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown to lead the Monarchs (6-0, 5-0 in conference play).

The Monarchs got help from seven turnovers and several other mistakes by Santa Monica (2-4, 2-3).

Valley’s winning score came on a 25-yard field goal by Tim Cronk with 3 minutes 17 seconds to play in the third quarter, breaking a 21-21 tie.

The Monarchs had evened the score about three minutes earlier on a two-yard run by Irving Carter after Santa Monica had taken a 21-14 halftime lead.

The first few series of the game were little more than a comedy of errors for Santa Monica. The Corsairs fumbled away the ball on three of four possessions and had four turnovers in the first half, but still led by a touchdown at intermission.

Valley took advantage of a Corsair mistake to score first.

The Monarchs punted on fourth down and 31 yards to go on their second possession. But Brian Clark fumbled the punt, and Valley’s Doug Socha recovered at the Santa Monica 25-yard line.

Fitzgerald hooked up with Brian Comer on a five-yard touchdown pass five plays later to give Valley a 7-0 lead with 8 minutes 42 seconds to play in the first quarter.

The Corsairs evened the score, 7-7, on a five-yard run by fullback Roosevelt Long, with 42 seconds remaining in the first quarter and took a 14-7 edge when quarterback Jorge Blanco hit wide receiver Montres Gords on a 17-yard scoring pass with 9:18 to play in the second quarter.

Valley tied it, 14-14, on Fitzgerald’s one-yard sneak on the ensuring possession, but Santa Monica regained the lead, 21-14, on a 29-yard pass from Blanco to Clark 2:44 before halftime.