Valley tops GV despite mistakes

Friday, Sept. 10, 1999 | 10:12 a.m.

To error is human, to overcome them, divine.

In a mistake-filled game marred by fumbles (8), interceptions (2), penalties (18) and mental miscues (lots), Valley High finally broke out a bigger eraser in its Sunrise Division opener at Green Valley Thursday night.

Jesse Adarme, the Vikings' fast and bruising 210-pound running back, sprinted to a 41-yard touchdown with 4:46 remaining to lift unbeaten Valley to a 20-16 come-from-behind victory over the host Gators.

The Vikings (3-0) held the Gators to five first downs and yielded just 74 rushing yards. But two pass-coverage breakdowns resulted in a pair of Green Valley touchdowns that had Valley looking down the barrel of a 14-12 deficit late in the game.

That was a wake-up call as the visitors raced 75 yards in just four plays for the winning points.

Taking possession at its own 25 with six minutes to play, a 30-yard scramble by quarterback Anthony Moreno on first down became a 45-yard advancement when a Gator tried to twist his facemask into a pretzel at the end of the play.

A clipping penalty temporarily set Valley back. But Adarme, who rushed 15 times for 81 yards and also led the Valley defense with several tackles for losses, made up the yardage posthaste by sweeping his right side and racing untouched into the end zone.

"We just wanted to keep the ball in Jesse's hands," said a relieved Valley coach Greg Sellers afterward.

Better there than on the ground, which is where Valley put the football three times on aborted punt returns. The Vikings lost only one of those fumbles, but it led to a 16-yard halfback option toss from Luke Jerome to Brett Graves for Green Valley's first score.

The mistakes notwithstanding, Sellers took satisfaction in the victory, given Valley was missing three starters in the offensive line. The Vikings overcame their injuries by utilizing an effective two-quarterback system featuring the shifty running of Demetrius Ford (11 carries, 72 yards) and the timely passing of Moreno (75 yards on four completions, including a 14-yard scoring strike to rangy Devon Stewart).

"We were playing with subs and threw the ball more than we wanted to," Sellers said. "But we knew this was going to be tough."

Graves, who caught three passes for 104 yards and both touchdowns for 0-2 Green Valley, gave first-year Gators coach John Culver something to hang his coaching hat on following Green Valley's crushing 63-0 defeat to Snow Valley, Utah, in its season opener two weeks ago.

An 82-yard pass-and-run play from Jeremy McKee to Graves midway through the third quarter gave the Gators a 14-12 lead and forced Valley into comeback mode.