By Uy Pham
On Sept. 29, the FVHS football team faced off in a Sunset League opener and Senior Night game against the Corona del Mar (CdM) Sea Kings in a home game at the Huntington Beach High School stadium. Following the recognition of the seniors on the football, pep squad and dance teams, the Barons fell 7-42 to the Sea Kings, starting their league run with a loss and updating their record to 4-2 in all matches.
“We had a lot of confidence coming from a 4-1 record [into] this game, but we just played too cocky,” senior captain Ben Pham said.
Shortly after seniors walked out with their family and friends for photographs and cheers from the crowd, sophomore Nolan Olivares kicked off the game with a punt into the Sea King endzone for a touchback.
The Sea Kings quickly progressed up the field. Following several successful runs, completed passes and penalties against the Barons, the Sea Kings arrived at first and 10. The pass was incomplete, but on second down, a throw to the right side resulted in CdM’s first touchdown of the game. Following the conversion of the extra point, FV was losing 0-7 at 9:59 in the first quarter.
Olivares received the ball for the Barons from CdM’s punt and brought it to FV’s 10-yard line. Senior Abdel Habibeh ran the ball, and junior Noa Banua completed a pass to senior Scott Peshke. An overthrown pass led to a punt on fourth and 14, which CdM received and returned for another touchdown. The Sea Kings’ conversion of the extra point expanded the score to 0-14 at 8:10 in the first quarter.
Shortly after, another blow occurred to the Barons when the Sea Kings recovered an onside kick and once again progressed towards FV’s end zone. False start and holding penalties as well as effective defense by senior Owen Tomko to force an incomplete pass set CdM back to fourth and 18, forcing the Sea Kings to punt.
Following receiving the punt, on first down, the Barons fumbled the ball and CdM won possession. The Sea Kings ran twice and then passed for another first down. Coverage by senior Kyle Nguyen and a penalty for pass interference forced the Sea Kings to second and 29. However, a pass interference penalty against the Barons led to several passes by CdM to the right side, and the Sea Kings scored another touchdown at 2:50 on third and five. With another extra point conversion, the Sea Kings were leading 0-21.
Olivares received the ball once again, but short runs and incomplete passes led to a 40-yard punt back to CdM.
The first play in the next drive resulted in an incompletion due to strong defense by Nguyen, but a pass to the right side won the Sea Kings a first down. Incomplete passes and short runs forced the Sea Kings to fourth and nine. To end the quarter, CdM’s quarterback evaded sack attempts by the Barons and threw a 35-yard touchdown to strengthen their lead to 0-28 after the conversion of the extra point.
An illegal forward pass set the Barons back to third and eight to start the quarter, and a completion to Pham was not enough for a first down. On fourth down at 11:28, Olivares faked a punt and ran to give the Barons a first down. The Barons gained some momentum with another run and then a pass to Habibeh, but the pass to Olivares on fourth down was not enough for a first down.
To start off their second quarter, CdM completed a 35-yard pass for a first down after the ball bobbled between Baron and Sea King players’ hands. The Sea Kings ran the ball but the play was canceled after a holding penalty was issued against them. Pham tackled and stopped another run, and incompletions by CdM forced a punt back to the Barons.
At 7:40, the Barons attempted to put together another drive with runs by senior Max Smith and Habibeh as well as a pass to Taylor, but FV had to punt once again to the Sea Kings.
The Sea Kings regained their momentum by completing two consecutive plays for first downs, and at 4:37 at second and fifth, Tomko failed to free the ball from a CdM player’s hands resulting in another CdM touchdown and extra point bringing the score to 0-35.
Despite the setback of a five-yard penalty for holding, Banua completed two consecutive passes to senior Joey Garcia but it was not enough to reach first down resulting in FV punting the ball. After a long punt, sophomore Brady Tomko attempted to maximize the distance CdM would have to travel down the field by chasing the ball out of bounds and shielding away CdM players.
The next two drives, one for CdM and the other for the Barons, resulted in both teams having to punt. CdM struggled to reach a first down after several incompletions and tough defense by Nguyen. For the Barons, Banua completed a pass to Peshke but was also sacked twice in this drive leading to a FV punt at 1:25.
In the last drive of the quarter, the Sea Kings completed three passing plays for three consecutive first downs. A flag for a false start against CdM did not stop the Sea Kings; with seven seconds remaining, CdM passed into the endzone and converted the extra point to surge into a 0-42 lead.
At halftime, the Fountain Valley Royal Regiment (FVRR) performed their show “Where Words Fail,” and FVRR seniors were recognized with their friends and family.
The third quarter consisted of back-and-forth action between the Barons and Sea Kings as both sides struggled to gain momentum. Due to their large lead, the Sea Kings mainly ran the ball to control possession but were unable to reach a first down for the entirety of the quarter. Also, tackles by Habibeh, Pham and senior Isaiah Burney held off CdM’s advance. The Barons attempted to fight on with a series of running plays but sacks to Banua and incompletions resulted in the Barons also unable to reach a first down.
“We played defensively well after a couple of drives,” Habibeh said. “But we have to start really fast. We have to really execute in the beginning so that really got us.”
However, at the end of the third quarter at 1:24, the Barons regained some momentum. A pass to Olivares and runs by Habibeh and Banua set up FV for fourth and one with 22 seconds remaining. Spotting a path through the middle of CdM’s defense, Pham ran to give the Barons a first down to start off the fourth quarter.
Two runs by Habibeh followed by a run by senior Adrian Esquivel set up a first and goal with four yards to go at 10:20. A run by Habibeh into the endzone and the conversion of the extra point earned the Barons their first and only touchdown of the game, updating the score to 7-42.
CdM attempted to put together a final drive for additional points. After a series of runs, crucial tackles by senior Gage Jackson and senior Peter Mikhael ended the Sea Kings’ final drive of the game.
“The players still played hard and delivered grit and heart, that’s really all we could ask for at the end of the day,” assistant head coach Trevor Martin said. “Our defense really battled regardless of what the score shows [but] we could definitely improve offensively technique [and] assignment wise…they will bounce back because they’re a very resilient team.”
The Barons will play their next league game, the Homecoming Game, against the Huntington Beach Oilers at the Huntington Beach High School Stadium. The Oilers are 0-1 in the Sunset League following a loss to Edison High School and are 4-2 overall.
“It’s obviously going to get tougher than this, so we should persevere and work hard everyday,” Pham said.
