By Tyler Sonderholzer
In their third home game of the season, the varsity football team narrowly defeated the Aliso Niguel Wolverines by a score of 16-14. The Barons improved their record to 4-1, with all five games being non-league matchups.
Our hopes and goals are to win, that’s the number one goal every game and it played out quite well,” assistant coach Trevor Martin said. “It was a tough one, defense played really really well and pretty much won the game for us. The offense stepped up when needed, but the goal is to win and we did it.”
The Barons received the opening half kickoff and the offense started well with senior Tyler Arevalos getting a 37-yard run and senior running back Ben Pham running for two first downs. However, after Pham’s second run for a first down, junior quarterback Noa Banua threw an interception to give the Wolverines the ball.
The Baron defense held firm, even though they gave up back-to-back first downs, they were able to force the Wolverines to punt the ball.
To start off the second offensive drive, Banua connected with sophomore wide receiver Luke Taylor for a nine-yard pass play and Pham followed that up by rushing for a first down. Senior running back Adrian Esquivel ran for 26 yards to further move the Barons downfield and a 15-yard facemask penalty on the Wolverines on the next play helped give the offense excellent field position. After two runs that went nowhere, sophomore wide receiver Nolan Olivares scored a five-yard touchdown pass and kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 Barons.
On the first play for the Wolverines after the touchdown, senior linebacker Caine Elroy made an excellent tackle to prevent a big play for the Wolverine offense. A ten-yard offensive holding penalty on the Wolverines brought them back ten yards and Elroy almost intercepted a tipped pass, but could not get his hands on it. As a result of the play, the Wolverines were forced to punt the ball.
However, the Barons did very little after receiving the punt as they had to punt the ball after an incomplete pass and two unsuccessful runs.
The Wolverine offense also did very little as the Baron defense forced them to punt the ball.
Offensive woes continued for the Barons as they were unable to get any offense going and they had to punt again.
Penalties plagued the Baron defense following the punt as the penalties helped give the Wolverines excellent field position. However, a great 30-yard pass to bring the Wolverines to the Barons’ 23-yard line was followed up by a 23-yard rushing touchdown and the extra point was good to tie the game at 7-7.
The Baron offense started to click thanks to Banua throwing great passes to Olivares and Taylor while Pham was able to get a good run play. The offense was unable to get a touchdown, however, but Olivares kicked a 41-yard field goal to give the Barons a 10-7 lead.
There was little time on the clock following the field goal so the Wolverines kneeled the ball to bring the game to halftime.
The Barons kicked the ball off to the Wolverines to start the second half and penalties plagued the Baron defense yet again as they were flagged for three penalties, helping the Wolverines drive downfield. The Wolverine offense was able to get within the Baron’s five-yard-line thanks to a stellar run and they eventually scored a rushing touchdown to take the lead 10-14.
After the touchdown, the Baron offense continued to struggle as the offense turned the ball over on downs back to the Wolverines.
Following the turnover on downs, the Wolverines were able to get a first down but the defense held firm thanks to senior defensive lineman Michael Rocha making a great stop behind the line and the rest of the defense preventing any big plays from the Wolverines.
Pham started off the drive with a good run of about five yards and Banua threw a first-down pass to senior wide receiver Scott Peshke. Pham and Taylor both got great passes from Banua to drive the Baron offense down the field. However, Banua was sacked on the next play. Even though a defensive pass interference penalty on the Wolverines brought the Barons to the Wolverines’ four-yard line, the offense was unable to capitalize as they turned the ball over on downs for the second straight drive.
The Baron defense stayed strong for the second straight drive as they forced the Wolverines to punt the ball.
The offense finally awoke for the Barons when after two plays going nowhere, Banua threw a great pass to Taylor, who also made a great catch on the play for a 30-yard gain. Banua then threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Taylor but Olivares missed the extra point, meaning the Barons were now winning by 16-14.
For the third straight drive, the Baron defense prevented the Wolverines from getting any offense going as they forced the Wolverines to punt the ball for the third straight drive.
On the first play after the punt, Banua threw his second interception of the game, giving the Wolverines the ball back with around three minutes left on the clock.
The Wolverines got a false start penalty to bring them back five yards, but their quarterback ran the ball for an 11-yard gain and they got the first down on the next play. On first down, a deep pass was incomplete but the Barons were flagged for pass interference, giving the Wolverine offense prime field position. After gaining eight yards on three plays, the Wolverines faced fourth down and needed a field goal to win the game. When their kicker kicked the ball, senior defensive lineman Fernando Garcia managed to get a hand on the ball, blocking the field goal. Garcia’s block sealed the game for the Barons as that block gave the ball back to the Barons with 30 seconds remaining.
“Both sides were really, really really really alive,” Garcia said. “You know, it came down to the very last play and to get a finger on that and to win the game for us, it was real great.”
The final whistle blew and the game ended with a 16-14 win for the Barons.
“I want to shout out coach Evan, the D line coach. I want to shout out coach Gutierrez the head coach, I want to shout out my whole defense, I want to shout out the whole team,” Garcia said. “You know, everybody played a great, great game, you know, we can’t wait for next week.”
The Barons improved their record to 4-1 and they next play Sept. 29 against Corona del Mar whose record is also 4-1, at Huntington Beach High School with kickoff scheduled for 7 pm. It will be the first league game for both teams.
