Fountain Valley’s fast start comes to screeching halt against Trabuco Hills

It was no secret that the Fountain Valley High football team faced its first true test of the season Friday night. Outscoring opponents 86-2 through two games, the Barons’ electric start was in need of a benchmark.

With a 24-14 loss to Trabuco Hills, Fountain Valley confirmed its status — a program that’s on the rise with undeniable improvements to be made.

Quarterback Nick Welch fell back down to earth after torching opposing defenses for 644 total yards and eight touchdowns the previous two weeks. The senior transfer finished Friday night with his first pedestrian performance as a Baron, completing 14 of 29 passes for 232 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, in addition to 75 yards on 18 carries.

“That’s a really good football team over there,” Trabuco Hills coach John Abdelnour said. “To hold them to 14 tonight is a testament to our players and defensive staff, and all the hard work they’ve put in. They gave us the opportunity to really get after [Welch] tonight.”

Fountain Valley entered the game with a chance to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2009. Instead, Trabuco Hills walked away from Sheue Field with its sixth win over the Barons in the past seven meetings.

The Barons began the contest at No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Division 6 poll, and at first showed signs of carrying over momentum from their strong start.

Welch found senior receiver Adam Arganda for 17 yards on a busted play to extend the opening drive, and would continue to march Fountain Valley down the field with a pair of scrambles for first downs. Moments later, the playmaking Kishaun Sykes recorded his first of two touchdowns on a hitch-and-pitch from six yards out, set up by a flawless reception and toss from junior Tyler Le.

The Mustangs answered back with 10 unanswered points of their own, to which Welch responded with another glimpse of his early-season magic. The dual-threat sat back, maneuvered the pocket and found Sykes streaking wide open down the left sideline for a 37-yard touchdown reception.

Trabuco Hills was easily the most physically gifted team Fountain Valley has faced this season, though, which became evident as the first half wore on. The Barons struggled to find offensive footing after their early scores and were held scoreless over the final 32:05 of regulation.

Pacing the Mustangs to victory was an impressive outing from the junior backfield duo of JC Montgomery and Colin Seedorf, who each rushed for a touchdown.

“The cool thing about football is there is 10 games, maybe more,” Fountain Valley Coach Jimmy Nolan said. “In a sport like boxing, you lose, and you have to wait in misery for a long time. We wake up tomorrow and get to play again. All you can take away is learning from your mistakes, and we were way up there in mistakes today.”

Mistakes were paramount in the Barons’ downfall, with a pair of botched snaps on critical fourth-down conversions — as well as two of Welch’s three interceptions — occurring in the second half.

One silver lining taken away by Fountain Valley’s head coach: resilience on the defense end amid a disheartening offensive performance.

“We put our defense in a bad situation more often than not,” Nolan said. “When you do that at 16, 17 years old, or even in the NFL, guys hang their head. They didn’t and I appreciated that brotherhood and camaraderie out there.”

The Barons look to rebound next week as they visit Foothill (0-2) at 7 p.m. Sept. 15.

Trabuco Hills 24, Fountain Valley 14

Fountain Valley…..7 7 0 0 — 14

Trabuco Hills…….7 10 7 0 — 25

FIRST QUARTER

FV - Sykes 6 pass from Welch (PAT good), 8:53

TH - Garland 22 pass from Ertz (PAT good), 5:01

SECOND QUARTER

TH - 26 FG Brosnan, 9:07

FV - Sykes 37 pass from Welch (PAT good), 8:05

TH - Montgomery 27 run (PAT good), 6:02

THIRD QUARTER

TH - Seedorf 1 run (PAT good), 4:45

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

FV - Welch 18-75 yards

TH - Montgomery 12-60 yards, one TD

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

FV - Welch 14-29-3, 232 yards, two TDs

TH - Ertz 5-13-1 107 yards, one TD

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

FV - Arganda 4-97 yards

TH - Garland 2-47 yards, one TD

JOSH CRISWELL is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @joshccriswell