Football: It’s survival time

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It no longer matters whether the game was pretty, whether the team made mistakes or how close victory was. It’s all about winning and moving to the next game in the playoffs, and top-seeded Valencia (11-0) is just happy about getting a 28-27 victory over Thousand Oaks in the Northern Division playoffs.

This was the easiest game to predict that an upset was possible. Thousand Oaks had lost to Valencia, 39-36, in the season opener. When the pairings were announced, Valencia Coach Larry Muir said, ‘I saw the draw, ‘Holy Cow,’ ‘ he said.

Thousand Oaks (5-6) came back from a 28-7 deficit and went for the victory with 28 seconds left, but Zach Tartabull came through with an interception on a two-point conversion attempt to put the Vikings into the quarterfinals against Ventura Buena.

‘It’s survive and advance,’ Muir said.

I think Valencia suffered from not having a tough game for weeks in a weak Foothill League. ‘They had been on autopilot for a while,’ Muir admitted.

But also credit Thousand Oaks, which has lots of good young players but just couldn’t come up with the big victory this season. Now the Vikings can return to the form that got them the No. 1 seed in a division with St. Bonaventure and Westlake.

‘I feel good,’ Muir said. ‘I think our kids refocused.’

-- Eric Sondheimer