High School Football: Fountain Valley falls to 0-4

TUSTIN — Scoring has come at a premium for the Fountain Valley football team this season.

That was the case for the Barons again in Friday’s nonleague game against Foothill played at Tustin High School.

Because of their defense, the Barons stayed very much in the game until early in the fourth quarter before Foothill pulled away for a 30-6 victory.

The Barons dropped to 0-4 and have scored a total of 26 points for the season.

“These kids just need to start believing in themselves but that is hard to do when you are 0-4,” Barons’ first-year coach Jim Nolan said. “These kids never quit. I can’t find one play where our kids quit.

The Barons’ five first half possessions resulted in four punts and an interception.

The interception came two plays into a drive that the Barons started at midfield, their best starting field position of the half.

The Barons also had what would have been a 50-yard touchdown pass from Josh Tellez to Julian Berinti negated by a holding penalty.

After Fountain Valley punted on their first possession of the second half, Foothill quarterback Bobby Garcia capped a 65-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run to put the Knights ahead 10-0.

The Barons took over and put together a 38-yard drive, their best drive of the game to that point.

But a 45-yard field goal attempt by Corey Swain, which would have got the Barons within a score, had plenty of distance but missed wide left.

A 40-yard touchdown pass from Garcia to Devon Anderson made the score 16-0 with nearly the entire fourth quarter remaining.

With 7:09 remaining, Fountain Valley quarterback Garrett Horn connected with Julian Berinti for a 30-yard touchdown to make the score 16-6.

The Barons opted for a two-point conversion try, which could have kept them within one score with lots of time remaining.

However, Horn’s pass was incomplete, keeping the Barons behind by two scores.

“That’s the thing I can lose sleep over,” Nolan said.

Dante Swayne’s six-yard touchdown run and then Jonathan Mejia’s 52-yard interception return for a score were the knockout blows for the Knights.

Garcia completed nine of 16 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown and rushed 19 times for 126 yards and a score to lead Foothill.

Nolan and the Barons have had to deal with setbacks that occurred before the season began.

When former Fountain Valley Coach Ray Fenton resigned after last season, Justin Shaeffer was hired to take over.

But Shaeffer resigned in May, having never coached a down.

Nolan, who took over in June, said the Barons lost several players because of the coaching changes.

Nonleague

Foothill 30, Fountain Valley 6

SCORE BY QUARTERS

FV 0 - 0 - 0 - 6 — 6

Foothill 3 - 0 - 7 - 20 — 30

FIRST QUARTER

FH – FG Robles 31, 2:01.

THIRD QUARTER

FH – Garcia 4 run (Robles kick), 5:31.

FOURTH QUARTER

FH – Anderson 40 pass from Garcia (Robles kick failed), 10:50

FV – Berinti 30 pass from Horn (pass failed), 7:09

FH – Swayne 6 run (Robles kick), 4:33

FH – Mejia 52 interception return (Robles kick), 1:26

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING

FH – Garcia 19-126, 1 TD

FV – Horn 5-8

PASSING

FH – Garcia 9-16-0-142, 1 TD

FV – Horn 15-31-2-126, 1 TD

RECEIVING

FH – Lopez 5-61

FV – Berinti 3-39, 1 TD