Johnson, Barons emerge with win

Mike Sciacca

Eric Johnson looked like a beleaguered man as he stood at midfield at

Sheue Field on the Huntington Beach campus on a cool September night.

Make that beleaguered, but happy.

In his first game as a head coach, the former Mater Dei defensive

coordinator watched as his Fountain Valley Barons dodged bullet after

bullet Friday, the final one in the final minute of play, as the Barons

sweated out a 7-6 victory over Dana Hills in the season opener for both

schools.

The Dolphins were poised to ruin Johnson’s head coaching debut as

they reached the Fountain Valley 21-yard line in the closing seconds. But

on fourth-down, a 39-yard field goal attempt for the win never

materialized as holder Joseph Murray fumbled the snap from center, and

the Barons took over at their own 26 with 22 seconds remaining.

‘It feels great just to be able to get through this one,’ Johnson

said as he broke into a small grin. ‘We made too many mental mistakes

tonight, but I credit the kids for keeping their heads in the ballgame

and coming through with this tough win.

‘I can’t remember being involved in a game that was this low

scoring.’

The 7-6 final score wasn’t indicative of the action that took

place on the field throughout Friday’s contest, as both teams moved up

and down the field.

Turnovers, however, played a big part in the outcome of the game.

‘We could have been in control of the game early, but we had way

too many mistakes,’ Johnson said. ‘Dana Hills could have grabbed control,

too, but they, too, turned the ball over. It was just a matter of who

would reach the end zone first, I guess, that would put one team in

control.’

That team, to Johnson’s liking, turned out to be Fountain Valley.

The Barons broke a scoreless halftime tie by putting together a

three-play, 60-yard drive late in the third period, with junior running

back Nedal Abdelmuti doing the scoring honors with a 27-yard run. His TD

scamper was a stellar one, as he cut across field at the Dana Hills 20,

then out-raced a host of Dolphins to the left corner of the end zone.

Matt Hanson’s extra point turned out to be the difference in the

game.

Fountain Valley had a chance to pad its lead early in the fourth

quarter when linebacker Eric Young broke through to block Matt Morgan’s

punt to set the Barons up at the Dana Hills 25-yard line. But Fountain

Valley wasted the scoring opportunity when the snap from center on a

24-yard field goal attempt sailed through the hands of holder Robert

Lodge, giving Dana Hills new life with 7:16 to play.

The Dolphins responded immediately as the play of Murray, in a

back-up quarterback role, engineered a 77-yard drive that culminated in

his 10-yard option keeper for a touchdown with 2:55 left in the game.

Surprisingly, Dana Hills went for two points and the lead, but

running back Billy Ewing was first hit by Michael Kotler, then a host of

Barons, and dropped for a two-yard loss.

But the Dolphins received one final shot at overtaking the Barons

as Abdelmuti fumbled the ball away on a second down run with 1:57 left,

and it was Ewing who was there for the recovery at the Dana Hills 46.

Despite consecutive illegal procedure calls to start the series,

Murray guided the Dolphins down to the Fountain Valley 23. The big play

of the drive was a 27-yard pass play from Murray to Morgan, which put the

ball at the 23 with 1:04 remaining. After a two-yard run by Ewing, Murray

spiked the ball to stop the clock, setting up the botched field goal

attempt.

‘We certainly did dodge a bullet there, but they also dodged one

earlier when we muffed our field goal attempt,’ Johnson said. ‘Both teams

made too many mistakes, but that’s what you might expect on opening

night.’

Dana Hills squandered away two scoring opportunities on each of

its two first quarter possessions. Ewing’s 56-yard return of the opening

kickoff put the Dolphins at the Fountain Valley 35, but two plays later,

Kotler recovered Ewing’s fumble at the 36. On their next series, the

Dolphins drove down to the Fountain Valley 10, but starting quarterback

Mike Bergey, whose rushing converted three third-down plays during the

drive, was sacked by Brian Dopler and Kjell Johnson, and one play later,

Bergey lost the ball on a handoff exchange with Ewing, and the Barons’

Bernard Fano fell on the loose ball at the Fountain Valley 31 with 20

seconds left in the quarter.

Fountain Valley sustained its only serious drive of the opening

half on its final possession, but back-up quarterback Casey Clark had his

third-down pass intercepted by Morgan at the Dana Hills 23 with 33

seconds left in the half.

Like his counterpart Murray, Clark did a nice job in the role of

back-up quarterback in place of Baron starter Jon Diulio.

Clark came up with a key 15-yard run during Fountain Valley’s

touchdown march in the third quarter, and his option running following

Young’s blocked punt moved the Barons downfield to the Dana Hills 4-yard

line.

Although Clark and Diulio combined on just 1 of 5 passing with an

interception and just five total yards, Fountain Valley’s rushing game

looked sharp as Abdelmuti, a junior running back, led all rushers with

125 yards on 19 carries. Senior back Steven Fifita also crashed the

100-yard mark as he rushed for 101 yards on 13 carries, which included a

bullish 30-yard run during Fountain Valley’s final series of the first

half.

On the play, Fifita burst up the middle for 15 yards, carried

Bergey, who also played free safety, for 10 more yards, before being

dragged down by four Dolphins at the Dana Hills 27-yard line.

‘Although we had too many mental breakdowns, I saw a lot of heart

out there tonight,’ Johnson added. ‘I think we can build on this win, and

I really feel that we’ll improve each week out. I’m just happy to get

this one under my belt, and to win this thing makes it all that much

better.’