Middlebrooks leads Barons to win

COSTA MESA — On a night when Kyle Middlebrooks went into the record books, the Fountain Valley football team moved a giant step forward toward the CIF playoffs.

Middlebrooks rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries — doing all of his damage in only three quarters of play — to help rush the Barons past Marina, 42-0, in the Sunset League and regular-season finale for both teams Thursday at Estancia High.

With the win, Fountain Valley concluded Sunset League play at 3-2. With Newport Harbor upsetting Los Alamitos, 24-23, on Thursday, the Barons now own a tie-breaker advantage since they defeated both Newport Harbor and Los Al in league play. All three teams are now tied for second place but there is one huge league game on tap today: Edison faces Esperanza at Orange Coast College.

If Edison wins that game, the Chargers will win the league title outright. Should Esperanza win, then the Aztecs, along with Edison, Fountain Valley, Newport Harbor and Los Al, all would share the league title in an unprecedented five-way tie.

An Esperanza loss Friday eliminates the Aztecs from playoff consideration. Fountain Valley, then, would earn the league’s second-place playoff seed by virtue of its wins over Newport Harbor and Los Al. An Esperanza loss to Edison also would give Newport Harbor the league’s No. 3 playoff berth, leaving Los Al with only a shot of making the playoffs as an at-large entry.

“We’re playing a waiting game,” Fountain Valley Coach John Shipp said after his Barons, who improved to 7-3, manhandled the Vikings. “We told our guys that they needed to come out tonight and play a quality football game, and they did. It had to be all business, to show that we belong in the playoffs.”

The Barons were, indeed, business-like in the victory. Nothing flashy, save for some nifty runs by Middlebrooks and a defense that sacked Marina quarterback Zach Couey seven times.

Middlebrooks rushed for 130 yards and three TDs on 13 carries in the first half alone. His yardage was enough to allow the junior to break Fountain Valley’s single-season rushing record that had stood for 27 years. Middlebrooks did it, too, with the previous record-holder, Rod Emery, in attendance at Thursday’s game.

Middlebrooks needed 114 yards entering the game to surpass Emery.

“It’s crazy and just amazing,” he said when asked how it felt to set the record. “I’ve known about the record for two games now, and it’s nice to get it. My linemen, the receivers, they’re all great and helped me get this record.”

Middelbrooks’ first touchdown run was nothing spectacular, a one-yard bolt, followed by Bryan Erskine’s conversion, that gave Fountain Valley a 7-0 lead on its first possession. The scoring drive was set up by a 44-yard interception return by Ryan Manzon down to the Marina 36-yard line on a pass on a fake punt attempt that backfired on the Vikings.

On the Barons’ next offensive series, Middlebrooks was used as a decoy on a first-down play. Quarterback Dominic Ragland faked an inside hand off to his running back, then went around right end on a keeper before shifting to the middle of the field at mid-field and went 65 yards for an apparent touchdown. The play, however, was negated by a holding call against the Barons.

But Middlebrooks made up for the mistake when, four plays later, he broke free on a run up the middle, then twisted and turned his way past a stack of defenders to complete a 29-yard touchdown run. Erskine’s kick made it 14-0 with 9:09 left in the second quarter.

Fountain Valley’s third possession of the game also resulted in a touchdown. Middlebrooks went over the 100-yard rushing mark on a 26-yard sprint down to the Marina 42-yard line. On his next carry, he established himself as the Barons’ single-season rushing leader on a 28-yard scoring run. He put on a nice spin move two yards up field, then raced untouched to the end zone to make it 21-0.

“He’s a special kid and a special talent, and he’d be the first to give his teammates the credit,” Shipp said. “What else can you say about No. 7?”

Middlebrooks would only touch the ball seven times more times in the game. His final yards came on a 22-yard scamper on the final play of the third quarter.

He came out of the line-up at that point.

Fountain Valley scored again before the first half was over to take a 28-0 lead at the intermission. Artie O’Keefe came up with a fumble recovery at the Marina 30 with 2:31 left in the half and the Barons cashed in on the turnover when Ragland threw a perfectly placed pass to Nyko Gonzalez. The senior tight end caught the 21-yard scoring pass in stride in the end zone.

If the outcome wasn’t already in doubt, Dylan Garcia padded the lead when he ran back the second half kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. Garcia also scored again in the fourth quarter on a 21-yard burst up the middle.

Marina, which finished 0-5 in league and 2-8 overall, had just 66 yards of total offense in the first half.

MIKE SCIACCA covers sports. He can be reached at (714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.