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Story and photos by Liz AlperOctober 19, 2023 (Spring Valley) - ECM Sports is back to work after a long break and we’re finally in Spring Valley for our first-ever Thursday night football game, as the Norsemen from Valhalla head to Monte Vista to face the Monarchs. Both teams are a little worse for wear; Valhalla is 2-7 overall and winless at 0-3 in Grossmont League play. Monte Vista is 2-6, 1-1 in league.
We had barely started when the Monarchs strung together a long touchdown run by senior Jaidyn Ellison and Monte Vista led 6-0 after one.
After senior quarterback Mayar Oqdeh flexed his arm and completed a long pass in the second, Ellison punched it in again for his second touchdown of the night. The Monarchs tallied one more time in the final seconds of the half and completed the two-point conversion to take a big 21-0 lead to the locker room at the half.
Senior Adrian Gonzalez joined in on the running touchdowns with a fight through coverage in the third. The Norsemen finally started making some noise, though, with some nice moves from senior running back Dominic Silva and the Monarchs led 28-7 after three.
The orange and white kept fighting in the fourth. Dom punched it in again for his second score despite a big hit, but Ellison tallied his hat trick touchdown to keep the Monarchs up by three scores. But Valhalla made it two again after a run after an epic long pass from quarterback Braxton Estes. But the Monarchs returned an onside kick to the house to go up by three again. The Norsemen recovered a fumble and Estes found senior wide receiver Angelo Rafo in the endzone on a slant to make it two again, but the Monarchs reigned and took this one with a 42-29 win. They’re now 3-6 overall and 2-1 in the Grossmont League. The Norsemen fall to 2-7 and remain winless in league play, falling to 0-4.
UP NEXTMonte Vista ends the regular season with a clash against their crosstown rival Mount Miguel at 7 p.m. next Friday.
Other East County scores:
Christian 19, Mira Mesa 28
Patrick Henry 14, La Jolla 45
Santana 21, Grossmont 46
Del Norte 42, Ramona 28
Steele Canyon 49, West HIlls 7
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