Josh Stupin throws four touchdown passes as Fountain Valley beats Troy in opener

Josh Stupin made his debut at quarterback for the Fountain Valley High football team on Thursday night.

The junior transfer from JSerra lit up the Troy defense at Huntington Beach High, throwing for 403 yards and four touchdowns. Having senior receivers like Kishaun Sykes and Brandon Krause helps.

Each of the three players had big games as the Barons earned a 40-28 season-opening win, though not without areas to work on down the road.

Fountain Valley coach Jimmy Nolan was not happy that his team, up by 25 points midway through the third quarter, had to hang on at the end. The Warriors threatened to make it a one-possession game before Fountain Valley stopped Troy in the red zone with 5:15 remaining on Noah Karliner’s fourth-down quarterback sack.

Fountain Valley also committed 17 penalties for 138 yards, including a roughing-the-passer penalty in the first quarter that negated a Sykes interception. Troy would eventually score on the possession, as quarterback Jonathan Rochester found Blake Ballin for the first of his two touchdown receptions.

“That’s unacceptable,” Nolan said. “We played today like a bunch of amateurs, and that’s disappointing, because a lot of these guys tasted success last year. I feel like maybe we’re still recovering from the Mater Dei beat down [in our scrimmage against the top-ranked Monarchs] last week. I don’t know. But we’re playing timid, we’re not showing any confidence and we’re playing sloppy … It’s going to be a long season if that doesn’t change. To me, it was amateur hour, and it was really disappointing.”

Stupin, who completed 27 of 38 passes, threw all four of his touchdowns in the first half, when he passed for 336 yards.

“I expected [Stupin] to be a little nervous,” Krause said. “He played it cool, though. He was locked in. I’m excited to see what he can do, because he really showed [it] tonight.”

Krause made 12 catches for 176 yards and a touchdown, while Sykes had five catches for 162 yards and two scores.

Sykes scored from 81 and 61 yards out, respectively, on his first two catches. On the second touchdown catch, he reversed direction on his own 45-yard line to avoid a would-be tackler, spinning right before exploding toward the end zone.

Senior defensive tackle Marlon Pua also recovered a fumble in the first half for Fountain Valley.

Fountain Valley led 33-15 at halftime and increased the lead midway through the third quarter, after Dillon Kerrigan’s interception set the Barons up at the Troy 41. Mathew Fuiava would cash in, ending the eight-play drive with his second rushing touchdown of the night, from 10 yards out with 7:20 remaining in the third quarter.

But Fountain Valley would not score again. Nolan said several of his players were cramping late in the game.

“We’ve got to get in shape,” said Nolan, whose team returns to action with a home game against North Torrance on Friday at Huntington Beach High.

“None of my teams have ever cramped before, because we work hard. So maybe we’re not working as hard as we need to … You know, we are in a soft era, and half the things I teach at football practice are frowned upon because of the movies, the media, everything. To me, it looked like powderpuff out there. That’s not Troy — Troy was hitting us, and we didn’t want to hit them. We wanted to play passing league today. I think we would have preferred to come out and play flag football today; that’s the mentality I witnessed.”

Nonleague

Fountain Valley 40, Troy 28

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Troy 15 – 0 – 6 – 7 — 28

Fountain Valley 20 – 13 – 7 – 0 — 40

FIRST QUARTER

FV – Ciok 13 pass from Stupin (Wright kick), 10:39.

T – Ballin 8 pass from Rochester (Rochester run), 8:05.

T – Ballin 21 pass from Rochester (Ballin kick), 5:06.

FV – Sykes 81 pass from Stupin (pass failed), 4:14.

FV – Fuiava 6 run (Wright kick), 0:51.

SECOND QUARTER

FV – Sykes 61 pass from Stupin (pass failed), 10:55.

FV – Krause 65 pass from Stupin (Wright kick), 0:51.

THIRD QUARTER

FV – Fuiava 10 run (Wright kick), 7:20.

T – Levine 7 pass from Rochester (kick failed), 4:54.

FOURTH QUARTER

T – Mucino 3 run (Ballin kick), 11:12.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

T – Hoggard, 10-28.

FV – Fuiava, 6-42, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

T – Rochester, 26-43-1, 299, 3 TDs.

FV – Stupin, 27-38-0, 403, 4 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

T – Ballin, 11-158, 2 TDs.

FV – Krause, 12-176, 1 TD; Sykes, 5-162, 2 TDs.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo