Barstow football loses Axe to Victor Valley

VICTORVILLE • The Axe is returning to green and white.

The Victor Valley High School football team pulled off a 29-28 win against Barstow in the 86th Axe Game on Friday night at Ray Moore Stadium.

Although Barstow holds the all-time series lead at 45-37-4, Victor Valley regained the trophy for the first time since 2005, giving the Jackrabbits both the Axe and Bell after beating Apple Valley earlier this year.

The Jackrabbits players collected the Axe at midfield and proceeded to jump up and down. For Victor Valley coach Leland Eudy and the seniors it wasn’t just a trophy or a step toward the playoffs, it was a symbol that the Jackrabbits have left behind their 20-game losing streak from two seasons ago.

“It means a lot,” said senior running back J.W. Morgan, who finished with 101 yards. “It means going from an 0-20 record to a 3-7 record to now a 7-2.We ain’t about to let them bring us down this year. I was crying, and I never cry. I’ve never cried before.”

The Jackrabbits win creates a four-way tie for second place in the Desert Sky League. Barstow will need to win in their season finale against Granite Hills in order to secure a playoff berth, while Victor Valley faces Burroughs.

“I’ll probably spend more time second guessing what we could have called here than I did with the championship game,” said Barstow coach Jose Rubio, referring to last season’s CIF-Southern Section Eastern Division title game loss to Citrus Hill. “I don’t like losing it.”

The annual rivalry game featured the excitement that it’s lacked in recent years. Both coaches made shrewd moves and both teams made big plays to keep the game in question into the final minutes.

Eudy made perhaps the shrewdest move of all when he went for a two-point conversion after Morgan caught a 20-yard touchdown pass with 9:54 remaining in the game. Quarterback Nathan Burnaman found Skylar Tillet near the end zone for the game-winning conversion, which Rubio said caught him by surprise.

“I knew they would be thinking we were going to go to our trips side with (top receiver Jordan) Calhoun over there,” Eudy said. “I felt they’d over-play that. I didn’t know if I was going to get another opportunity, and I didn’t want them to control the end of the game.”

The move worked, as Barstow was forced to pass the rest of the way and earned just 32 yards in two series. The game effectively ended when Morgan, who missed a potential interception a few plays earlier, intercepted a Barstow pass at midfield with 2:25 to play.

“The first one, I thought I had it and it dropped out,” Morgan said. “The second one, I had to make up for it because if I didn’t there was a chance we could have lost. The team was with me. It wasn’t me by myself catching that interception.”

Victor Valley opened the game with an onside kick and scored six plays later. Barstow responded with its own scoring drive followed by an onside kick and another scoring drive to lead 14-7.

Victor tied the game with 1:38 left in the first, but Barstow managed to regain the lead thanks in part to a 59-yard trick play. Quarterback Steve Deverell tossed it to the left sideline, where backup quarterback Ameer Hamdan took the ball and found Brandon Martel open down field. Martel was pushed out at the 5-yard line and Sean Silva score two plays later to give Barstow a 21-14 lead at the half.

Barstow         14    7    0    7    —    28
Victor Valley    7    7    7    8    —    29

First Quarter
V — Calhoun 14 pass from Burnaman (Dodd kick)
B — Cornish 48 run (Wainner kick)
B — Deverell 1 run (Wainner kick)

Second Quarter
V —  Kepley 10 pass from Burnaman (Dodd kick)
B — Silva 2 run (Wainner kick)
Third Quarter
V — Calhoun 4 pass from Burnaman (Dodd kick)

Fourth Quarter
B — Locke 4 pass from Deverell (Wainner kick)
V — Morgan 20 pass from Burnaman (Tillet pass from Burnaman)