Western Hands Fullerton First Loss, 9-3

The way Rene Arias was moving the Fullerton High School football team in the fourth quarter, it seemed almost inevitable that the Indians would come back to defeat Western Friday night at Western.

That’s not how Western Coach Jim Howell saw it. He saw a gritty Western team giving up some yards, but determined to hold when necessary. And he saw it right as Western hung on for a 9-3 victory.

“That may be what you thought on the sidelines. That may be what the fans thought,” Howell said. “But our players didn’t think that. They hung in there and they never gave up.”

Down, 9-3, midway through the final quarter, Arias had moved Fullerton from its 34-yard line to the Western two-yard line by completing a 25-yard pass to John Bailey and by handing off to Marcus Roberson and Chris Escalera. But on first-and-goal from the two, Arias was hit hard and fumbled. Erick Dowell recovered for Western, ending Fullerton’s last serious scoring bid.

Western (4-1) won, 9-3, and knocked the Indians (4-1) out of the ranks of the undefeated.

Western took a 9-0 lead in the first half, unspectacularly. The Pioneers recovered a Fullerton fumble at the Indians’ 20, and quarterback Gilbert Brito followed a few plays later with a five-yard touchdown pass to Tom Shrake. Brito’s extra point attempt was blocked.

In the second quarter, Brito kicked a 36-yard field goal. The field goal came at the end of the most impressive drive for Western, a 17-play march that ate up almost the entire second quarter.

Western’s solid defense made up for the less-than-explosive offense. The Pioneers held Fullerton to five yards rushing in the first half.

Fullerton was hampered by offensive breakdowns other than the late Arias fumble. The Indians fumbled on their first two possessions of the game. On the night, the Indians lost five fumbles. They also missed another chance to score from inside the Western five.

Finally, on the Indians’ last-gasp drive, a Fullerton assistant coach was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which moved the Indians from Western territory back to the Fullerton 42.

“We didn’t do the job when we had to do the job and that’s why we lost,” Fullerton Coach Steve Nishimoto said.