Two FVHS football players walk onto the field together hand in hand before the game against Huntington Beach. Photo by Yasir Khaleq.by Olivia Krueger, Staff Writer
Unable to keep the momentum going from last week’s win against Mira Mesa, Fountain Valley’s varsity football team lost in their first conference game 23-6 to the Huntington Beach Oilers.
Head Coach Jimmy Nolan said, “I think we didn’t get any breaks, the chances we had to execute we failed so I felt that the Barons really beat the Barons. With all the opportunities we really shot ourselves in the foot.”
Strong defense by both teams led to a scoreless first quarter. The Barons struggled to get a first down but the defense held their ground and forced two punts and a three-and-out against Huntington.
Barons started the second quarter off strong, again forcing a three-and-out and sacking Huntington’s quarterback twice. The Oilers threw for a touchdown after recovering a bad snap to the Baron’s quarterback Garrett Horn (‘18). After another Oiler’s touchdown, the Baron offense drove the ball to Huntington’s three-yard line, but after two false starts, the Barons failed to score and closed out the first half trailing 16-0.
To begin the third quarter, a throw from Horn gets picked off for a 30-yard interception but the Barons immediately get the ball back by recovering a fumble. Another pickoff by Huntington ends the Baron’s drive proceeding the fumble. With four minutes left in the third quarter, Horn throws to the end zone and the pass is caught by Josh Tellez (‘18). Barons go for two but fail to convert, ending the third quarter still trailing 16-6.
The Oilers score once more in the fourth quarter ending the game and the final score was Huntington Beach 23, Fountain Valley 6.
“Lifes all about overcoming adversity so these guys are getting a good dose right now. There’s a big difference between a loss and a win, but there’s a huge difference between a loss and quitting, and we show no quit so I am proud of that. We gotta improve as a whole and that’s staff included,” said Nolan.
The Barons are now 1-5 on the season. There is another conference game and a Homecoming game against Newport Harbor on Friday, October 14.
