Philip George, Spring 2009 Assistant Sports Editor
For the 43rd year, the battle of the bell raged on once again.
Cross-town rivals Pierce College and Valley College, geographically the two closest teams in the Western State Conference, fought for their territory Saturday at Valley Stadium, the Monarchs coming up victors 50-13 and recapturing the Victory Bell from the Brahmas.
“[The rivalry] is intense,” said Pierce assistant coach Dave Ochoa. “We could be 0-9 and it doesn’t matter. This is the one you want to win.”
Pierce and Valley first met in 1965 in front of 5,500 fans plus a local television audience, a game in which Valley triumphed, 26-6, and although Saturday’s game did not receive the same hype – only 302 fans in attendance and not a television camera in sight – the same locker-room intensity was still there.
“It was a different kind of aura today than it has been over the past several weeks,” said Monarch head coach Jimmy Sims.
Sims is the longest tenured coach on either staff, in his fourth year as a head coach and his sixth year on Valley’s staff, and thus has had the most experience with the rivalry.
“It’s a true rivalry,” he said. “Sometimes I thought that Pierce was a more talented team than we were, and we went down there and beat them. Sometimes I thought we were a lot more talented, and they’ve come over there and they beat us.
“When you’re supposed to win and the other team beats you because of inspiration and excitement, that’s a true rivalry. I’ve got butterflies right now.”
The Monarchs have had the slight edge in the rivalry’s recent history, achieving victory over the Brahmas in three straight contests before Pierce took last year’s game and the trophy that has been handed back and forth since 1965, the Victory Bell. On Saturday, it was Valley’s turn to take it back.
As the skies seemed threatening all night, the Brahmas appeared anything but, allowing the Monarchs to score seven touchdowns in their nine first-half possessions – four of them coming off turnovers by Brahma quarterback Taylor Budd who saw his team trailing 47-6 at the game’s halfway mark.
Budd had a day to forget, completing only six of his 23 attempted passes while losing the football just as many times (five interceptions and a fumble) after setting season highs in completions in passing yards just a week ago.
Another interception on Budd’s first pass of the second half set up a Valley field goal to extend the lead, but the freshman quarterback connected with reciever Jonas Matos for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, the final scoring play of the night as the Monarchs’ 50-13 drubbing stood up and sent the Brahmas back to the bus, the bell heard ringing throughout the campus.
“This is exactly how I pictured [the outcome of the game],” said Pierce head coach Efrain Martinez, whose team has been plagued by injuries since the season’s first week when quarterback Justin Collins was lost for the season with a broken femur. “There’s not a worse feeling in the world than going into a game knowing what’s going to happen and not being able to do anything about it.
“What it comes down to is all the injuries that we’ve had. Nobody has had the injuries we’ve had. Nobody. Nobody has lost their starting quarterback. Nobody has lost their all-American wide reciever. Nobody has lost their all-American safeties. Nobody has lost their division one tackle, and that’s just the way it goes.”
Across the field, Sims had nothing but praise for his opponents’ ability to overcome the struggles handed to them the duration of their season.
“I want to give credit to coach Martinez and the Brahmas,” he said. “Our kids did a good job and I don’t want to take anything away from us, but I don’t want to take anything away from what Pierce has done.”
The Brahmas’ record now stands at 2-6, mathematically eliminating any hopes of a conference title and guaranteeing losing record for the season with just two games left on the schedule.
Pierce will travel to Quartz Hill High School to take on first place Antelope Valley College (5-3) Saturday at 1 p.m.
Brahma Jayson Washington hurdles over a defending player as he heads toward the end zone trying not to get tackled by the defending Monarchs at the away game Saturday. Pierce College lost to rivaling Valley College, 50-13. (Aisha Ahal)