Orange County Prep Football : Fountain Valley Wins Again, 28-13 : Barons Show Westminster That They’re Very Much Alive

A winning tradition isn’t easy to shake.

Fountain Valley High School, which failed to reach the playoffs in 1985 and ’86 after eight straight appearances and which lost its first four nonleague games this season, appeared to have finally, really , lost the magic.

But Fountain Valley isn’t ready to play dead just yet. The resurrected Barons beat Westminster, 28-13, Friday night and are now undefeated in Sunset League play and in the driver’s seat for the playoffs.

“We’re right where we want to be,” Baron Coach Mike Milner said.

Fountain Valley (4-4, 3-0) dominated Westminster (4-4, 1-2) in the first half, gaining 203 yards to the Lions’ 45 and taking a 14-0 lead.

The Barons’ first touchdown came on a one-yard sneak by junior quarterback David Henigan. The second score was a seven-yard run by Courtney Dubar, which came as a result of a recovery of a Westminster fumble at the Fountain Valley 26.

Fountain Valley’s halftime total could have been more. Kicker Derek Mahoney missed field goal attempts of 28 and 50 yards.

The Barons’ defense, led by tackle Reza Mehdizadeh, shut down the Westminster running game and pressured Lion quarterback Bob Elliott into throwing five straight incompletions.

But Westminster came out of the locker room a seemingly different team. The Lions recovered their onside kickoff at the 50 and used six plays to score a touchdown, a seven-yard pass from Elliott to Al Togonon. When Fountain Valley got the ball back, the Lions’ defense, led by lineman Ray Smith, put on the pressure and defensive back Jim Slagle grabbed an interception at the Fountain Valley 32.

But Troy Rossean’s 33-yard field goal attempt failed and the Lions’ spark seemed to die.

On the Lions’ next possession, Fountain Valley’s Mike Walcott intercepted a pass at the Westminster 32 and Henigan (12 of 18 for 170 yards) drove his team to the goal line, scoring again on a one-yard run.

The teams traded turnovers again. Westminster’s Steve McCoy intercepted a Henigan pass and Fountain Valley’s Brent Hickman recovered Elliott’s fumble. Fountain Valley made use of that opportunity as running back Eli Del Gallo scored from 18 yards out to make the score 28-7. Dubar gained 53 yards and Ray Luckey 54 to lead the Barons.

Westminster’s final score came with 28 seconds left on an 11-yard pass from Elliott to Togonon. Elliott was 16 of 28 for 123 yards. He threw a pair of touchdowns and was intercepted twice.