On a night where the Vikings defense held the San Clemente Tritons dual threat quarterback Nick Billoups and Co. in check, the offense was unable to hold up its end of the bargain in a 17-7 defeat.

It plagued the 2019 Valencia Vikings all season long, and it reared its ugly head in tonight’s CIF Southern Section Division 2 opening round game: inconsistency on offense. Including tonight, the Valencia offense managed just 31 points in four losses this year. A rare tough season on that side of the ball for head coach Larry Muir’s club.

“In playoff football, the team that eliminates mistakes, those are the ones that are gonna win the football game, and we kept shooting ourselves in the foot over and over again and it ended up costing us,” said Coach Muir after the game.

Related Story: Santa Clarita Football Playoff Scores

Whether it was issues up front with protection, receivers getting open or quarterback Ryan Morrison reading the coverage, the passing game was never able to get in a rhythm and move the ball.

Both defenses were dictating the terms of the game in the first quarter, which had four punts and a 0-0 score. The first scoring drive didn’t come til midway through the second quarter after a Valencia penalty kept a San Clemente drive alive, the Vikings defense tighted up in the Goal to Go situation. Jake Santos broke up a pass on 3rd & Goal from the 3 yard line, forcing a 20 yard field goal.

With the defense holding the Tritons to a chip shot, the invigorated offense came out with their nicest drive to that point in the game with two first downs. Then, an all-out blitz from San Clemente forced an errant throw by Morrison into the waiting hands of Preston Rex.

Just like that momentum swung heavily in San Clemente’s favor.

“We were moving the ball a little bit [in that second quarter] … but this is playoff football, and we were making mistakes,” said Muir.

The Tritons took advantage and immediately marched down the field, and Rex capped off his interception with a seven yard touchdown catch with 1:28 left in the first half.

The second half mainly followed the same script as the first, though Valencia senior cornerback Diego Garcia did his best to inject some life into his team and the stadium with the two biggest Viking plays of the third quarter: first, a 45 yard return on the opening kick off of the second half (squandered by the offense), and then an interception to stop a Tritons drive, keeping Valencia in the game.

“He’s been a great football player all year, his leadership, a shut down corner for us … there were a lot of guys that raised up their game tonight, and I thought he was definitely one of them.”

Valencia avoided being shut out late in the fourth quarter, after Jake Santos scored on a nine yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 17-7 with 3:42 left in the game. That’s when things got crazy.

The Vikings onside kick attempt was recovered by the kicking team, and the home crowd was roaring with a sliver of hope in the air, for all of about 30 seconds. After the officials huddled to talk it over, they determined it illegal and San Clemente was awarded the ball, effectively ending Valencia’s slim chances.

“Evidently they said it hit one of our guys before it went ten yards, ricocheted off of one of our guys and then hit their guy and then it bounced back before ten yards and that’s the call,” said Muir.

Valencia’s last stand was halted there, and their season ends with a 7-4 record and an incredible 11th consecutive Foothill League title.

“I’m proud of the guys, we had some tough spells throughout the year, and they came back and won another Foothill League championship … overall you’ve gotta be proud of their effort and they battled all the way through.”

For the complete First Round playoff scoreboard, click here.

KHTS Sports is your place for the 2019 Santa Clarita high school football season and your Santa Clarita Dodgers coverage. Find all the latest news and updates on your hometown schools here as they compete in the Foothill League, Heritage League, Western State Conference and GSAC.