Vedder and Saddleback Just Keep on Rolling, 34-20

Justin Vedder displayed his ability to throw deep, throw short and also run when forced to--all in one quarter--as he led Saddleback to a 34-20 victory over visiting Fullerton Saturday in a Mission Conference Central Division football game.

Vedder, a sophomore, directed four touchdown drives in the third quarter, ending three with scoring passes.

His performance and that of the defense enabled Saddleback to erase a 14-7 halftime deficit.

It was the 14th consecutive victory for Saddleback (8-0, 4-0), which is ranked first in California and second in the nation.

Vedder was seven of 10 for 175 yards in the third quarter. He also scrambled for gains of 17 and 11 yards.

“There was complete unity at halftime,” he said. “Not a word was said, we all knew what we had to do.”

Vedder started things off with a 51-yard scoring pass to Adam Roman (five catches for 83 yards) that tied the score, 14-14, with 13:38 left in the third quarter.

Saddleback took the lead, 21-14, about two minutes later when Vedder threw a 10-yarder to the sideline and running back Mark Reynosa got the ball, then ran 20 yards into the end zone.

Vedder turned to wide receiver Peter Campbell (six catches, 73 yards) for his third touchdown. The two had combined for consecutive 15-yard completions earlier in the drive. The touchdown pass came from 12 yards and Saddleback led, 27-14, with 6:55 left in the quarter.

Phil Cruz scored the final touchdown on a nine-yard run with nine seconds left in the quarter.

Vedder was 23 of 36 for 373 yards with four touchdown passes and one interception. Vedder has 4,235 passing yards in his career at Saddleback and needs 17 to pass Tim Snowden (1991-92) for the college’s all-time record.

“I feel pretty good,” Saddleback Coach Bill Cunerty said, “when I can turn the game over to our defense and Justin Vedder.”

Fullerton (3-4, 2-3), which was the last team to beat Saddleback, looked ready to do it again.

The Hornets moved ahead, 7-0, when Carvel Gardner scored from a yard with 8:25 left in the first quarter. Fullerton was the first team to score in the first quarter against Saddleback this season.