Valencia Makes Do With What It Has
In other years, tonight’s Division V first-round playoff game between Valencia and Tustin would have been one of the best football games on the schedule.
But not this season, when Valencia (3-6-1) probably will look more like sacrificial lambs than Tigers against Tustin (10-0), ranked third in the county.
In past years, it would have been unthinkable for Valencia, since Coach Mike Marrujo became the head coach in 1981, to have to squeeze into the playoffs by winning a coin flip with Western and Magnolia, as the Tigers did last Friday night. All three teams were tied for third in the Orange League with 2-3 records.
But that is how Valencia got into the playoffs this year.
In the Marrujo era, Valencia has been a highly successful program. In his 17 seasons there, the Tigers have missed the playoffs only once (1995). They had not won an Orange League title before he got there; since 1983, however, Valencia has won or shared 11 league championships, including seven in a row, and won three section titles, the last one in 1987.
“For 12 to 13 years we had a good run, averaging eight to 10 wins a season,” Marrujo said. “But the demographics of North Orange County have changed. We now have many non-English speaking kids who didn’t grow up playing football. They often don’t go out for football.”
Marrujo makes it clear he is not complaining or looking for sympathy. His team has had injuries this season, but all teams have injuries. He has had an inexperienced offensive squad, with only two returning starters. Still, Marrujo has been successful before with teams that didn’t have much talent.
No, what concerns Marrujo is whether this year was an aberration or the start of a long, downward spiral. He has only had three losing seasons at Valencia, but two have come in the last three years.
“It has been tough to deal with losing when you have won as much as we have,” Marrujo said. “But I’m a football coach, and will be until the day I retire. It is who I am.”
So he will bring Valencia to Tustin tonight, and expects the Tigers to do more than just show up. They are not expected to win, but they will play as hard as they can as long as they can, especially on defense. They will try and slow down the county’s leading runner DeShaun Foster, who has 2,355 yards and 43 touchdowns this season for Tustin.
“Foster is a [college] Division I player,” Marrujo said. “On film I saw one run against Servite where he broke eight tackles. And it wasn’t sloppy tackling; he just ran through people. You may stop Foster three to four times and then he busts one 65 yards.”
But the players are willing to take their shot.
“Even with the season we’ve had, it’s still worth it to get into the playoffs,” linebacker and defensive co-captain Dan Maurin said. “It’s been the kind of up-and-down season where . . . we’ve found a way to lose. But everyone is ready to play their best, and play with their hearts.”
Linebacker Matt Randolph, Valencia’s other defensive co-captain, said he is also glad to be in the postseason, “because it’s my senior year, and you always want to go as far as you can. I don’t think it’s the end of my football career, but it definitely is the end of a chapter in my life I won’t get back again.”
If Valencia is to upset Tustin tonight, Randolph said the Tigers will have to play their best game of the season.
“You always have to think you have a chance to win,” Randolph said. “We have to stop Foster. He’s very good--I give him all the respect for gaining 2,300 yards--but he is human.
“Tonight everybody has to swarm to the ball. You cannot let one person try to tackle him.”
Defense has been the strength of Valencia this season. Although the Tigers have won only three games, only twice have they lost a game by more than two touchdowns. Opponents have often been able to pad leads late in the game because Valencia’s defense has gotten tired from being on the field too long.
“We’ve been in every game and that’s what makes the losing tough,” defensive coordinator Curt Pike said. “Sunny Hills did a number on us, but some of the other games we could have won.
“We have to stop the run and not give up the big play. We have to try and force some turnovers against a team that really doesn’t turn the ball over. And they are not one-dimensional, Foster and nobody else. They can also pass.”
It seems a tall order for Valencia to stop a team that is averaging 49.3 points a game, a team that has been held under 40 points only twice this season.
Marrujo has no illusions about the outcome.
“We told the kids we will do our best to prepare them in practice, right down to the pregame meal,” Marrujo said. “But all you can do is get kids to do their best. That is what coaching is all about.”
Featured Game
VALENCIA VS. TUSTIN
When: 7 tonight.
Where: Tustin High.
Records: Tustin (10-0); Valencia (3-6-1).
Rankings: Tustin No. 3; Valencia is unranked.
Noteworthy: The Tigers face a nearly impossible task of trying to stop Tiller running back DeShaun Foster, who set a single-season county record for touchdowns (43).
