The Valencia Vikings’ postseason run came to an abrupt end Friday night in a wild, high-scoring playoff matchup against the Palos Verdes Sea Kings. Despite holding multiple double-digit leads, the Vikings fell 42-34 at home in front of a packed Valencia crowd.
Valencia (9-3) entered the game as the favorite, hosting the 8-3 Sea Kings in the first round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs. The Vikings opened with momentum, showing both offensive firepower and defensive grit in the early going.
After deferring to start the game, Valencia’s defense immediately set the tone, recording a tackle for loss and forcing a punt. On offense, quarterback Brady Bretthauer connected with Brian Bonner for a 50-yard touchdown to put the Vikings on the board first. Moments later, Nico Funez hauled in a 71-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 midway through the first quarter.
Valencia’s defense continued to apply pressure, forcing multiple three-and-outs and a strip-sack to keep the Sea Kings at bay. Palos Verdes finally broke through on a fourth-and-15 play when quarterback Ryan Rakowski found Jalen Flowers in the end zone on a 29-yard strike, cutting the deficit to 14-7. But Bretthauer quickly responded, keeping the ball himself for a 39-yard rushing touchdown to end the first quarter and extend the lead to 21-7.
In the second quarter, Bretthauer connected with Bonner again on a 19-yard screen pass for Bonner’s second score of the night. Though the PAT went wide left, Valencia led comfortably, 27-7, with under two minutes before halftime. Palos Verdes, however, seized the momentum late in the half as Flowers scored his second touchdown to make it 27-14 at the break.
The Sea Kings carried that spark into the third quarter. On the first play of the second half, Valencia fumbled, and Palos Verdes capitalized with another Flowers touchdown—his third of the game—to make it a one-possession contest at 27-21. Moments later, Palos Verdes running back Dominik Hernando burst through the line untouched for a 19-yard touchdown, giving the Sea Kings their first lead of the night at 28-27.
Valencia regained control briefly as Anthony Vernon sprinted past the defense for a 65-yard touchdown to close out the third quarter, putting the Vikings back ahead 34-28. But the fourth quarter belonged entirely to Palos Verdes.
The Sea Kings answered with a 32-yard touchdown pass to retake the lead, 35-34, before a mishandled punt snap by Valencia turned into a scoop-and-score for Palos Verdes’ special teams. That defensive touchdown pushed the lead to 42-34—enough to seal the comeback win.
Valencia had one final drive to close the gap, but a fourth-down stop ended their hopes as the Sea Kings ran out the clock to advance.
The loss marks a heartbreaking end to a strong season for Valencia, which finished 9-3 overall after claiming the Foothill League title for the third straight season. Valencia Head Coach Larry Muir described the loss as “a tough way to end it.”
Despite the loss, he expressed pride in the team for the season they had, the work they’ve put in, and their character and personality—even off the field.
“Even in the loss, there were life lessons to learned,” said Muir. “That’s what football players and warriors do on the field of competition: you put yourself out there and you lay it all on the line and you learn from it and become a better person. The problem is these moments are not the best moments to have.”
As for Palos Verdes, they will have at least one more moment and a crack at a championship when they return home to host Dana Hills next Friday at 7 p.m.
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