PREP FOOTBALL : Sunset League : Henigan Readies Fountain Valley for Playoffs

David Henigan completed 13 of 20 passes for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns Thursday night to lead Fountain Valley High School to a 42-13 victory over Huntington Beach in a Sunset League finale at Orange Coast College.

Fountain Valley (8-2, 5-0), which clinched the Sunset League championship last Friday with a victory over Marina, moves into the Southern Section Division I playoffs next week as the Sunset League’s No. 1 representative. The Barons are the fifth-ranked team in Division I.

Huntington Beach finished its season 2-8 overall, 1-4 in league play.

Fountain Valley scored on its second play of its first possession, just 49 seconds into the first quarter as Henigan hit receiver Mike Cook for a 47-yard touchdown pass.

Less than 3 minutes later, safety Abram Yap intercepted Huntington Beach quarterback Chris Will, returning the ball 16 yards to the Oiler 2-yard line. Kedric Powe ran in for the score, and Fountain Valley led, 14-0, with 7:47 left in the first quarter.

Huntington Beach slowed the Barons’ momentum enough to put together a scoring drive of its own late in the second quarter. After Will faked taking the snap, tight end Cary Mitchell ran around from the right, took the snap and went down the sideline for a 17-yard gain.

That set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Doug Cunningham to ease the Oilers’ deficit to 14-7.

Powe, who led Fountain Valley’s rushing game with 95 yards and 2 touchdowns in 16 carries, scored the Barons’ third touchdown with a 3-yard run in the second quarter. The kick gave Fountain Valley a 21-7 halftime lead.

In the second half, Fountain Valley stretched its lead with 3 touchdown plays. Henigan hit Eric Sassenberg for a 15-yard scoring pass in the third quarter; he hit Rick Mock for a 12-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, and Mock returned an interception 30 yards for the Barons’ final touchdown with 3:32 remaining in the game.

For Huntington Beach, it was a night to forget.

The Oilers were outgained by Fountain Valley, 310-167.

And though Will completed 7 of 16 passes for 61 yards, he was intercepted twice before being replaced by junior Jeff Gibson in the fourth quarter.

Gibson didn’t have it any easier. He threw 10 incomplete passes and an interception before completing his first, a 7-yarder to Doug Cunningham. That catch set up the Oilers’ second and final score, as Gibson ran 1 yard for the touchdown.

ORANGE COUNTY CAREER PASSING

Player Yrs Yds 1 Todd Marinovich / Mater Dei, Capistrano Valley 84-87 9,165 2 David Henigan / Fountain Valley 86-88 5,380 3 Shane Foley / Newport Harbor 84-85 5,264 4 Burt Call / Capistrano Valley 81-83 4,956 5 Mark Larson / Kennedy 73-75 4,815