SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Whittier Christian Advances : Division IX: Heralds use defense to down Valley Christian and advance to the final. Rector, Pritchard lead the offense.

Whittier Christian High School has become known for its ability to put points on the scoreboard.

Friday night, the Heralds proved they could also keep points off.

Whittier Christian’s hard-nosed defensive effort against Valley Christian preserved a 26-15 victory in a Division IX semifinal game at Whittier College.

“We’re not just an offensive team anymore,” Whittier Christian Coach Phil Bravo said. “We’ve improved defensively every week. Right now, we’re exactly where we want to be.”

Whittier Christian (12-0) advances to the Division IX championship game next Saturday against the winner of tonight’s Beaumont-Tehachapi game. The site for the title game will be determined Sunday by a coin flip.

It will be Whittier Christian’s first trip to the Southern Section finals since its back-to-back championship years, 1983-84.

Ahead 18-0 in the second quarter, Whittier Christian needed an inspired goal-line stand to keep Olympic League rival Valley Christian (6-6) scoreless in the first half.

Herald defenders swarmed over 215-pound Valley Christian fullback Aaron Plante on a four-yard run, stopping him at the goal line as time ran out in the half.

As usual, Whittier Christian--which had averaged 50.6 points per game since mid-October--built the ead behind the running of Ron Rector and Rex Pritchard.

Rector’s 74-yard sprint along the left sideline set the stage for Pritchard’s one-yard scoring dive with four seconds left in the first quarter.

Interceptions by Mickey Fortie and David Whitby set up two more Pritchard touchdowns in the first half. Pritchard ran six yards over the middle for a 12-0 lead with 6 minutes 20 seconds left in the half, then plunged a yard for another score two minutes later after Whitby’s interception.

Valley Christian rallied to within 18-15 on Kyle Dykstra’s one-yard quarterback sneak late in the third quarter, and a two-yard fourth-quarter run by tailback Mitch Bledsoe (165 yards in 32 carries).

Whittier Christian quarterback Nick Sanchez threw only five times, but he made his last pass count. Sanchez put the game out of reach with 1:14 left to play, lofting a 13-yard pass to Whitby, who made a twisting, over-the-shoulder grab in the end zone.

Both of Whittier Christian’s 1,000-yard-plus backs had big nights. Rector led the Heralds with 157 yards in 15 carries. Pritchard, who rushed 18 times for 93 yards, has scored six touchdowns in two weeks.