Hornets blast Rustlers

YORBA LINDA – The optics didn’t fit the narrative for the Golden West College football team in 2016.

Coach Nick Mitchell’s Rustlers entered Saturday’s regular-season finale against host Fullerton in a three-way tie with the Hornets and Saddleback for the Southern Conference lead.

But a 59-27 drubbing by the best offensive team in the state left Mitchell’s depleted Rustlers with a 4-6 record (3-2 in conference) and, frankly, not much to celebrate.

The losing record stops a streak of three straight winning seasons, in which the Rustlers were a combined 24-9 and played in a bowl game each year.

“We’re playing with the big boys, so we have to up our game,” Mitchell said after the Hornets scored 45 straight points after trailing, 6-0, and breezed through what had been a vaunted defense for 563 yards.

Fullerton (9-1, 4-1), which came in averaging a state-best 52 points per game and was No. 2 in California with 515.6 yards per contest, burned the Golden West secondary for nine receptions of at least 20 yards at Yorba Linda High.

Montana State bounce-back freshman quarterback Jordan Hoy was 14 for 22 for 332 yards and four touchdowns for Fullerton. His scoring passes covered 53, 23, 20 and 15 yards and additional completions netted 56, 49, 29, 28 and 24 yards.

“[The Hornets] have the best receiving corps we’ve faced this year,” Mitchell said. “And we had too many breakdowns in the secondary.”

The Rustlers, as they have most of the season, struggled to move the ball on the ground. Until freshman Darren Sandoval bolted 69 yards for a touchdown on the Rustlers’ final offensive play, the visitors had minus-two yards rushing on 32 attempts. Ten running plays resulted in negative yardage, including three sacks, as sophomore quarterback Adam Vance was harried all day.

Vance threw two interceptions and lost one fumble as Golden West had three turnovers, all of which were turned into touchdowns, including an eight-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Xavier Chisholm that gave the Hornets a 28-6 lead.

Fullerton had five turnovers including a lost fumble one play after Golden West’s Quinton Conaway opened the scoring with a 35-yard field goal.

Conaway’s 29-yard field goal cashed in the aforementioned fumble and the Rustlers held a surprise 6-0 edge with 4:23 left in the first quarter.

But Fullerton covered 81 yards on three plays with the ensuing kickoff, one of five touchdown drives that took four or fewer plays, and the Hornets never trailed again.

Vance finished 22 for 45 for 238 yards and two touchdowns passing. But he threw two interceptions to give him six in the last two weeks. He had just three this season prior to that.

Sophomore receiver Zimari Manning had seven catches for 74 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown grab, and will now weigh offers from Pac-12 and Big-Ten schools, Mitchell said.

Sophomore wideout Quinn McElfresh had seven catches for 71 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown.

Sandoval finished with 96 yards on 11 carries.

Injuries plagued the Ruslters, who were down to 48 players in uniform and lost a handful of starters on both sides of the ball for various durations during the season.

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SOUTHERN CONFERENCE

Fullerton 59, Golden West 27

SCORE BY QUARTERS

GWC 6 – 0 – 7 – 14 – 27

Fullerton 7 – 31 – 14 – 7 – 59

FIRST QUARTER

GWC – Conaway 35 FG, 5:43.

GWC – Conaway 29 FG, 4:23.

Ful – Walker 20 pass from Hoy (Aguilar kick), 3:21.

SECOND QUARTER

Ful – Walker 53 pass from Hoy (Aguilar kick), 13:55.

Ful – Williams 15 pass from Hoy (Aguilar kick), 9:45.

Ful – Chisholm 8 interception return (Aguilar kick), 8:51.

Ful – Davis 2 run (Aguilar kick), 2:04.

Ful – Aguilar 37 FG, 0:08.

THIRD QUARTER

Ful – Hoy 5 run (Aguilar kick), 11:37.

GWC – Manning 18 pass from Vance (Conaway kick), 8:52.

Ful – McNeal 23 pass from Hoy (Aguilar kick), 5:19.

FOURTH QUARTER

GWC – McElfresh 23 pass from Vance (Conaway kick), 8:04.

Ful – Richardson 13 pass from Jackson (Aguilar kick), 4:17.

GWC – Sandoval 69 run (Conaway kick), 2:51.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

GWC – Sandoval, 11-97, 1 TD.

Ful – Butler, 12-50.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

GWC – Vance , 29-45-2, 238, 2 TDs.

Ful – Hoy, 14-22-0, 332, 4 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

GWC – Manning, 7-74, 1 TD; McElfresh, 7-71, 1 TD.

Ful – McNeal 5-132, 1 TD.