Valley 24, College of the Desert 14--The...

Valley 24, College of the Desert 14--The Monarchs rallied for 21 unanswered points in the final 19 minutes in a nonconference game at Palm Desert.

It marked the second week in a row the sixth-ranked Monarchs (2-0) needed a second-half comeback to win. A week ago, they trailed, 17-7, before rallying to beat Santa Barbara, 30-17.

Against Desert, Valley quarterback Tom Racius threw a first-half interception to set up a Roadrunner score and threw another interception on the second play of the second half.

Desert’s Eric Lumpkin returned the second interception 50 yards for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead.

After the second interception, Valley’s spread offense began to click. Racius completed 16 of his next 19 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns, a 48-yarder to Leaford Hackett and a 35-yarder to Randall Lane with 1:24 to play.

In between those scores, tailback Armone Lochard capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run for the Monarchs.

Racius completed 27 of 40 passes for 379 yards and two touchdowns. Lane had 12 catches for 148 yards.