Fontana Rolls Past Barons to Big Five Title

In much the manner that it had methodically steamrolled past 13 previous opponents, Fontana High School plowed its way to the Big Five Conference football title Friday night.

A 21-0 victory over Fountain Valley before a crowd of 18,532 at Anaheim Stadium was another showing of ball-control offense and winning in the trenches. Another showing of football in the Fontana tradition, this time good for the first Southern Section title in the sport in the 34-year history of the school.

“We came in with a game plan for everyone,” Coach Dick Bruich said, not long after taking a Gatorade bath at midfield, courtesy of some of his players. “I think we ran most every play we had, and most all of them worked.”

In becoming the first team since St. Paul of Santa Fe Springs in 1981 to go undefeated in winning the Big Five title, Fontana (14-0) had no superstar, only plenty of heroes. That pretty much followed the script of a season in which the Steelers beat three of the top teams in the state: Vista of the San Diego Section, Eisenhower of Rialto in a crucial Citrus Belt League game and Crespi of Encino last week in the semifinals.

Friday night, center stage belonged to several.

The running backs had the statistics. Derrick Malone finished with 137 yards in 26 carries and Edrian Oliver had all 3 touchdowns and 131 yards in 18 carries.

Fontana’s offensive line dominated. The most impressive job was done by Chad Barron, a 6-foot 2-inch, 230-pounder who took on his more-publicized opponent, Fountain Valley defensive tackle Reza Mehdizadeh, and came away with a clear victory.

The defense made a 7-0 lead stand up until Fontana scored the other two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Fountain Valley (9-5) finished with 6 yards rushing in 20 attempts (a 0.3 average) and quarterback David Henigan went 9 of 19 for 90 yards, including 2 of 11 for 20 in the second half.

Fontana controlled the line from the start, most notably right tackle Barron, a junior, neutralizing Mehdizadeh, a senior All-Big Five candidate. Barron deserves as much credit for the Steelers’ first-quarter touchdown as Malone and Oliver.

Fontana’s first possession was a 12-play, 68-yard drive that lasted 6 minutes 49 seconds and culminated when Oliver swept right, got a key block from Barron and went in from 11 yards out with 2:51 to play in the first quarter. Malone had three gains of six yards or more on the drive, and Joe Bernal added the extra point.

Fountain Valley, which rebounded from an 0-4 start to the season, was in position to tie the score early in the second quarter. The Barons, on a long drive, reached the Fontana three-yard line before Courtney Dubar’s fumble gave the ball back to the Steelers.

The Fontana lead went to 14-0 with 10:19 remaining in the game, as Oliver, who put the Steelers in scoring position with a 28-yard gain on a counter play to the left, got the same call and took it in for a 19-yard score. This time, Chris Ybarra had the key block on Fountain Valley’s Ed Fischer.

The Steelers’ next drive was a double killer for Fountain Valley--it made the score 21-0 and chipped 6:40 off the clock. Oliver’s final score was from 15 yards out, over left tackle, and Bernal had his third extra point.

“As far as the team concept is concerned, everybody threw a major block,” said Oliver, who ran for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first-round victory over St. Francis of La Canada. “That’s what makes Fohi so special.”

Friday night, it made them champions.