Fullerton Starts Quickly, Wins Big

Fullerton High School returned the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown and rolled to a 37-7 rout of Sonora Friday night in front of 2,100 fans in Fullerton District Stadium.

David Chacon raced untouched to the end zone on the first play of the game and Fullerton opened with 21 points in the first quarter--its biggest offensive outburst of the season--in the Freeway League opener for both schools.

Fullerton (5-1, 1-0) already had scored 21 points with 3:44 remaining in the first quarter despite totaling only 42 yards. Fullerton, which scored only three points in a loss to Western last week, had plenty of offense, but the outcome didn’t please Coach Steve Nishimoto.

“I’m not happy,” said Nishimoto. “We won by 30 points, but we were sloppy. The touchdown on the opening kickoff really got us off to a good start, but all those penalties hurt.”

Fullerton was penalized 12 times for 125 yards, most of the infractions coming on holding calls or late hits. The erratic play came only a week after Fullerton lost five fumbles in a 9-3 loss to Western.

“We can’t continue to play like this against good teams and win,” Nishimoto said. “I’m concerned about some bad habits we’ve fallen into.”

Fortunately, Sonora (2-4, 0-1) wasn’t much opposition, despite fielding what many think is its best football team in the 1980s. Quarterback Ryan Lewis fumbled twice and was intercepted once as Sonora mounted only one scoring drive.

Lewis completed only four of 17 pass attempts as Fullerton’s defense, led by junior linebacker D.C. Olsen, continually pressured him. Fullback Scott Tibbets scored Sonora’s only touchdown on a 40-yard run.

Fullerton’s reluctant receiver, John Bailey, had quite a night. He caught touchdown passes of 18 and 36 yards and had another touchdown play of 53 yards nullified by a penalty. Bailey also kicked a 28-yard field goal, was successful on four conversion kicks and was named the senior prince in homecoming ceremonies at halftime.

Not bad for a guy who once quit the team. Bailey had decided to concentrate on baseball in his senior year, but changed his mind and joined the team four weeks ago. He has caught 18 passes for 278 yards in only four games since.