PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS / BIG FIVE CONFERENCE : Barons Start Slow, Down Rubidoux

Fountain Valley High School, overcoming a slow start, rallied to beat Rubidoux, 29-17, Friday night in a Big Five Conference playoff game at Orange Coast College.

The Barons gave up 150 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns in the first quarter before Courtney Dubar’s running and David Henigan’s passing led Fountain Valley to a second-round berth against Bishop Amat, a 29-17 victor over Lakewood.

“We just like to rest early, I guess,” said Dubar, who rushed for 106 yards and 3 touchdowns. “But we’ve always managed to come back at the end.”

Baron Coach Mike Milner, whose team has won seven straight after opening the season with four losses, wasn’t nearly as confident.

“I was a little worried,” Milner said. “But once our offense started clicking, we started getting better defensively. Our problems early were a matter of missing tackles.”

Rubidoux quarterback Ruben Hernandez marched the Falcons 80 yards on 7 plays on the opening series, capping the drive with a 47-yard run. With Fountain Valley keying on tailback DeChon Burns, who gained 24 yards in the game’s first four plays, Hernandez turned a fake handoff into a breakaway run.

Minutes later, Hernandez engineered a 4-play, 70-yard scoring march. The key plays were a 57-yard gain by Burns and a 5-yard scoring run by Anthony Prior, a play set up by another Hernandez fake that baffled the Baron defense.

But after that, Fountain Valley took control. Henigan, who completed 21 of 28 passes for 245 yards, marched the Barons 73 yards for a score, capped by Dubar’s seven-yard run. After an interception by Tony Spaan, Fountain Valley marched 57 yards for another score, again on a seven-yard run by Dubar.

Dubar capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half with a 1-yard scoring run. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Henigan connected with Mike Maga on a 24-yard touchdown pass.