Valley Christian avenges loss to Delta

In a matter of one month, Valley Christian's varsity football team turned a 50-38 loss on the road at Delta to a 40-32 win. That's an impressive 20-point turnaround, from losing by 12 to winning by eight. Valley Christian head coach Doug Williams had no fancy answer as to the turnaround. "We're certainly familiar with each other so it was just being more prepared this time around," Williams said about playing Delta a second time, a game that wasn't even confirmed until Wednesday. (Despite losing to them before)"we were confident going into the game. We worked hard and were better prepared to face them this time around." The combination of quarterback Connor Tinker and wide receiver Riley Garcia proved to be tough to stop, as those two hooked up for three touchdowns. Daniel Fourie scored on a touchdown run after the first Tinker-to-Garcia strike, as Valley Christian trailed at the half, 20-14, despite the fact that Delta's starting quarterback Chase Parkinson got hurt in the second quarter. Valley Christian continued to struggle offensively in the third quarter, as they tried Noah Lutes at quarterback, before going back to Tinker. Trailing 26-14 at the start of the fourth quarter, Valley Christian scored four times in the fourth quarter, while holding Delta to one score. Tinker found Garcia two times for touchdowns in the fourth quarter; Tinker also ran one in before finding his brother, Caleb, for a touchdown. Defensively, the Lions had an interception by Caleb Tinker, while also recovering a fumble in the pivotal fourth quarter. "We were disciplined and we finally played four quarters," Williams said. "Delta is a good, strong team and they're tough to come back on. We've kind of crossed this bridge before, because we've had some wild games with Delta before a couple of years ago. "This team has done a good job being flexible. That's the most important improvement they've made since the start of the season. They've needed to be flexible and open-minded and play with no ego. We're not out of game. If we have to make a quarterback change or if we need to move a skill player to the line, we will do it. We're doing a good job of being flexible with our talent." Valley Christian's next game is at home (Highlands High School) on Saturday against Turlock Christian.