Prep Football : Big Plays Prove Too Big as Fountain Valley Loses

Even with its quarterback slowed with a bruised knee, Long Beach Poly was able to come up with enough big plays to defeat Fountain Valley, 35-20, in a nonleague game Friday at Veterans Stadium.

Poly quarterback Mike Carter, who had not practiced all week, ran for one touchdown and threw for another as Poly (4-0) wore down Fountain Valley (3-2).

“Their offensive attack is built around big plays,” Fountain Valley Coach Mike Milner said. “They can take it into the end zone on any given snap. We tried to control that.”

Early on, the Barons had some success, building a 10-0 lead with 8:03 left in the first half. Fountain Valley quarterback David Henigan, who came up with a few big plays himself in passing for 255 yards, threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Mike Cook for a 7-0 lead.

Derek Mahoney kicked a 45-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-0, but then Poly shifted into its big-play offense.

It started with a 77-yard run by Andre Green with 7:04 left in the half and ended with an option pitch from Carter to Clay Cureton that covered 52 yards with 2:34 left in the game that gave Poly a 35-20 lead. The score sealed the victory for the Jackrabbits, ranked second in the Southern Section Division I poll.

Carter’s 37-yard run for a score put Poly ahead, 14-10, with 3:48 left in the half.

Fountain Valley drove 62 yards to the Poly 1-yard line when Henigan found Cook in the corner of the end zone for an apparent touchdown with 13 seconds left. However, the officials called off-setting pass-interference penalties on Cook and on the Poly defender, wiping out the score.

After an incomplete pass, Mahoney kicked an 18-yard field goal with 3 seconds left and Fountain Valley trailed 14-13 at halftime.

Eli Del Gallo gave Fountain Valley a brief lead at 20-14 with a 7-yard burst up the middle for a touchdown.

But Poly came back quickly.

Running back Philip Robins scored on a 1-yard plunge for a 21-20 lead 90 seconds later. Carter found Stanley Alexander streaking alone down the sideline for a 73-yard touchdown and a 28-20 lead.

Carter showed off his considerable athletic skills on the Jackrabbits’ final score. Faced with a third-and-3 situation at his 48, Carter rolled to his right and turned upfield, gaining enough for the first down.

Not satisfied with a 12-yard gain, Carter pitched the ball to Cureton just as he was about to be tackled. Cureton went the remaining 40 yards for the touchdown and the 35-20 lead.

“The word was that I wasn’t going to play,” said Carter, who passed for 169 yards and ran for 70 more. “(My knee) got better every day. The coaches told me to bring my uniform to the game just in case. I felt I could play so I jumped in.”