Barons rally past La Mirada

You’ve got to hand it to the Fountain Valley High defense.

With the Baron offense sputtering throughout the night Friday, it was

the defense that turned things around against visiting La Mirada and

sparked a 16-7 nonleague win before 4,000 at Huntington Beach High’s

Sheue Field.

With the previously-unbeaten Matadores threatening to pad its 7-3

halftime lead late in the third quarter, Fountain Valley strong safety

Casey Clark came up with the play that ignited the Barons.

With La Mirada facing a second-and-10 from the Fountain Valley 17-yard

line, quarterback Chris Cox’s pass to the goal line, which was intended

for Anthony Ortega, went off the hands of the Baron’s Stephen Webber ,

then fell into the arms of Clark.

The sophomore, who also started at quarterback for the Barons,

raced 56 yards before being hauled down by a host of Matadores at the La

Mirada 44-yard line with 3:39 to go in the quarter. On the first play

from scrimmage, Nedal Abdelmuti, who finished with 98 yards on 18

carries, gained 20 on a carry around right end.

Five plays later, fullback Steven Fifita bullied his way into the

end zone, and Matt Hanson’s conversion gave Fountain Valley (2-1) its

first lead, 10-7, with 34 seconds left in the period.

It was Fifita, also a starter along the defensive line, who also

added the knockout punch early in the fourth quarter.

The 5-foot-11, 240 senior scooped up Cox’s fumble at the La Mirada

17-yard line and raced untouched to the end zone to up Fountain Valley’s

lead to 16-7 with 8:34 to play.

The Baron defense did the rest from there as it didn’t allow La

Mirada to penetrate past its own 41 during the Matadores’ final three

possessions of the game.

‘I thought our defense played another great game,’ Fountain Valley

Coach Eric Johnson said. ‘We came up with some big turnovers, and they

turned this ballgame around.’

The Fountain Valley defense recovered two of La Mirada’s four

fumbles, with Fifita recording both recoveries. Junior cornerback Chad

Triplett had a fourth quarter interception, senior linebacker Brian

Dopler had a pair of quarterback sacks and both Fifita and junior lineman

Bernard Fano each had one sack.

The final score marked the second time in three games that the

Fountain Valley defense has limited an opponent to a touchdown or less.

The Barons defeated Dana Hills, 7-6, in the first week of the

season.

La Mirada’s score, however, was a gift, as the Matadores (2-1)

recovered a Fifita fumble at the Fountain Valley 12-yard line on the

Barons’ fifth play from scrimmage.

It was the first of four fumbles on the night by the Barons (they

lost two), and Junior Vaca turned the miscue into an eight-yard touchdown

run for a 7-0 La Mirada lead.

The Matadores had gone on top, 10-0, on Mike Orr’s 47-yard field

goal late in the first quarter, but a roughing the holder penalty on the

play was called on Fountain Valley. La Mirada Coach John Mele decided to

take the points off the board and start fresh with a first down at the

15, but the decision would come back to haunt Mele: the Barons held. and

on fourth down, Orr’s 27-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left, and La

Mirada was left with a 7-0 lead.

The Barons finally got on the scoreboard with 3:07 left in the

first half on Hanson’s 32-yard field goal. The 11-play drive consumed

nearly six minutes of the second quarter clock, and the march featured

Clark’s first completion of the game after an 0-for-5 start.

The pass was a big one, too, as it went for seven yards and a

first down on a third-and-four play from the La Mirada 48-yard line.

‘You know, we’re young on the offensive side of the ball, but I

really think our offense is beginning to do some positive things,’

Johnson said. ‘As we develop as the season progresses, then I think we’ll

continue to play better as a group.

‘I thought tonight we made the progress that I wanted to from a

week ago. La Mirada’s a very good football team - and a well-coached one,

too.’

La Mirada, which already has lost star running back Mike Lemon

(broken leg) for the year, played the second half without its other top

rusher, Chris Rudiger, who suffered a concussion in the second quarter.

Rudiger did not return to the game after halftime.

For Fountain Valley, it was a nice rebound from last week’s

disappointing 31-17 loss to Centennial/Corona. In that defeat, the Barons

had three blocked punts turned into touchdowns, and also gave up safety.

There were no such breakdowns Friday night, although the offense

nearly gave the game away.

Luckily, Fountain Valley had its defense to count on.