Fountain Valley’s Comeback One Game Short : After 0-4 Start, Nine Wins in Row, Barons Meet a Better Team in Fontana

Many of Fountain Valley High School’s players had mixed emotions after the Barons’ 21-0 loss to Fontana Friday night in the Big Five Conference championship game.

There was a sense of pride that the Barons were able to rebound from an 0-4 start and win nine consecutive games to qualify for the title game in Anaheim Stadium. This was the same team that had won only 2 of 14 games before it began the streak with a win over Long Beach Poly in the fifth game of the season.

But there was also the disappointment of coming so far only to lose the big game in a one-sided fashion. The Baron offense was almost non-existent, gaining 96 yards. The defense held its own until the final quarter, when Fontana finally wore out the Barons, scoring two touchdowns.

David Henigan, the Fountain Valley quarterback, completed 2 of 11 passes for 19 yards in the second half. He also was sacked four times for minus 24 yards. Afterward, he sat on his helmet at midfield, the tears showing he could no longer hold back his emotions.

Fountain Valley, which finished 9-5, had come far, but the best team won and won easily. Fontana, with 14 straight victories, became the first team since St. Paul in 1981 to finish undefeated in the conference.

Dick Bruich, the Fontana coach, praised Fountain Valley but said, “On this particular night, the best team won. To end the season with a shutout, what a night.”

Dave Penhall, Fountain Valley’s offensive coordinator, said the Steelers lived up to their No. 1 state ranking.

“They were everything they were advertised to be,” he said. “Absolutely the best defensive team we’ve played all year. We knew going into the game they were the best, and that it would take our best game to beat them.”

Fountain Valley’s Reza Mehdizadeh, the Sunset League’s defensive player of the year, wasn’t a factor. Fontana totaled 277 yards rushing, with backs Derrick Malone and Edrian Oliver both with more than 100.

“We had a lot of missed tackles and a couple of breakdowns in the last quarter,” Mehdizadeh said. “They’re easily the best team we’ve played.

“But we have nothing to be ashamed of. It’s a bad feeling to come this far and lose, but we had a great year.”

Greg Munck, the Barons’ defensive tackle, had the feeling he was seeing more than double most of the night.

“It seemed like on every running play, they had three or four people coming at me,” he said. “They put everybody in front of the ballcarrier. They drove the ball well the whole game and didn’t give our offense much of a chance.”

But it was unlikely the Barons could have scored against Fontana. They had only 16 yards offense in the second half and blew their only scoring opportunity when tailback Courtney Dubar fumbled at Fontana’s three-yard line in the second quarter.

“If we could have scored, the game might have been different,” said Steve Stafford, Fountain Valley tight end. “We couldn’t block them. They were good, sound players, and we didn’t execute at all offensively.

“But I’m proud to be on this team. Everybody wrote us off, and we made it to the finals. It was a great accomplishment for this team.”