Fountain Valley Extends Jinx Over El Toro

Fountain Valley High School Coach Mike Milner and El Toro Coach Bob Johnson used to win games together, after Johnson hired 21-year-old Milner as his assistant at Los Amigos years ago.

They have also won money together during friendly trips to Las Vegas--with Milner claiming that Johnson always wins the most. But on the football field, where they now meet once a year as opposing coaches, it’s Milner who does the winning.

Friday’s renewal of the Baron-Charger series was typical--an excellent game, an exciting El Toro performance, and a 14-7 victory for Fountain Valley (2-0). That makes the series 5-0 in favor of the Barons.

Johnson was so proud of his team, yet so disgusted by the outcome, that he could hardly summon a word immediately after the game.

“I’m not real happy,” he said. “The kids battled and played a good game. I hope they got something out of this.”

The conclusion of the game would have been hard for any Charger coach to accept, not to mention the head coach who doubles as father of his poised young quarterback.

Johnson’s son, sophomore quarterback Bret Johnson, almost aired the best locally-produced commercial for Johnson & Johnson yet: a 69-yard drive with a minute and a half left in the game. He guided the Chargers (1-1) to within 23 yards of a possible game-tying touchdown.

But with 17 seconds left in his second game as a varsity starter, Bret Johnson threw his second interception. As receiver Scott Miller fell down in an effort to get back to the dying pass, it dropped into the hands of Fountain Valley defensive back Derrick Munck. Bret Johnson had to concede his first varsity loss.

Johnson said he “rolled the dice” in calling two trick plays, a fake punt and a fake field goal. Meanwhile, Milner, coach of Orange County’s third-ranked team, played meat-and-potatoes football, but his intensity was no less.

“I wouldn’t want to lose to my mother,” said Milner, who has been a close friend of the opposing quarterback since Bret’s Nerf ball days. “I saw Bret before the game and it seemed odd to be telling the other quarterback, ‘Good luck and have a good game.’ ”

Johnson lived up to the advice, completing 14 of 29 passes for 126 yards and one touchdown. He also demonstrated remarkable open-field running talent, reversing his path during a 42-yard run to set up the Chargers only touchdown.

Fountain Valley, aided by its powerful offensive line, looked best in its first possession of the game. The Barons moved 80 yards, as substitute tailback Terry Reichert rushed for 49 yards on 7 carries, including a 7-yard touchdown run with Charger Jason Steele hanging on his ankles.

Charger tailback Ron Chocklet, one of the leading rushers in the county after last week’s rout of Estancia, had a much rougher time running against the likes of Baron Lance Zeno. Chocklet was El Toro’s top rusher, but only managed 67 yards on 12 carries.

The Chargers advanced to the Baron 14-yard line on their next drive and Bret Johnson’s lengthy run. After Chocklet was stopped at the line of scrimmage with 4:30 to go in the first quarter, Bret Johnson threw two incomplete passes. On fourth-and-10, Johnson threw a scoring pass to tight end Christian Martinez in the right corner of the end zone. Shane Brisbin’s kick tied the game at 7-7.

El Toro began to hold its own on defense from then on, with end Chad Fouts, tackle Scott Spalding, and linebacker Mike Gonzales leading the unit. The Barons increased the effectiveness of their pass coverage in the second half, when Johnson had nine incompletions.

Fountain Valley scored the last touchdown of the game in the third quarter after a 47-yard drive culminated in Reichert’s 5-yard touchdown.