Hornets Win a Wild One Over Palomar

When Palomar’s Nakoa McElrath took the opening kickoff the length of the field for a 100-yard touchdown, it foreshadowed the scoring blitz to come in the Mission Conference Central Division football game between Fullerton and Palomar Saturday at Palomar.

With the help of Anthony Scott and Odyssei Wilridge, Fullerton prevailed, 65-48, for its fourth consecutive victory.

The Hornets (4-2, 2-0) scored nine touchdowns, breaking the school record of eight set in 1994. Wilridge, a running back, scored three touchdowns, on runs of five, 33 and four yards.

The 113 points broke the combined conference scoring record of 72 set in 1994 in a game between Rancho Santiago and Southwestern. Fullerton and Palomar had scored 74 points by halftime.

After McElrath’s kickoff return, Wilridge scored from five yards to tie the score, 7-7.

Scott then caught a 57-yard pass from Geoff Berg to give the Hornets a 13-7 lead. Palomar (2-4, 1-2) made a field goal at the end of the quarter.

Palomar and Fullerton scored 51 points in the second quarter and Fullerton led at the half, 40-34.

The difference in the game was the third quarter. A 30-yard field goal by Chris Rico, a one-yard touchdown run by Berg and a four-yard score by Wilridge extended Fullerton’s lead to 57-34. The Hornets held Palomar scoreless in the quarter.

Scott closed out the scoring with a 39-yard touchdown reception on a pass from Berg.

Scott caught nine passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns. Berg completed 12 of 22 passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns. Berg also ran for a touchdown.

In the other Central Division game:

Golden West 28, Orange Coast 6--John Frank completed 19 of 31 passes for 262 yards and four touchdowns for Golden West (2-4, 1-2). Frank hit Mike McCullough with touchdown passes of 19 and nine yards to give the Rustlers a 14-0 lead with 5:37 left in the second quarter. Frank added a nine-yard touchdown pass to Paul Tessier for a 21-0 halftime lead.

Frank found McCullough with a 23-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter for a 28-0 lead. McCullough finished with seven catches for 154 yards.

Antonio Leone caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Craig Scott in the fourth quarter for Orange Coast (0-6, 0-3).