Few Catch Up to Fountain Valley’s Carter

Fountain Valley wide receiver Aaron Carter says catching a deep pass is just like it happens on the silver screen.

“You get off the line, you get behind the secondary, you realize you’re open,” Carter says, recalling a familiar feeling. “You look for [quarterback Ryan] Breska but you can’t see him because the line is in the way. Then all you see is the ball begin its arc. It seems like slow motion--it’s exactly like the movies--and I’m thinking, ‘Don’t drop it, don’t drop it,’ which makes me focus on the ball.

“When I have it in my hands, it’s a huge relief, all that pressure is off, and then it’s just trying to outrun everybody.

“Knock on wood, I haven’t been caught from behind yet.”

Carter, a senior, is averaging 23 yards per catch. He has scored more than half his team’s touchdowns, and has helped Fountain Valley reach No. 5 in the Orange County sportswriters’ poll.

“He’s a catalyst, and if he gets going, if he gets into a rhythm with Breska, you can shine it on,” Huntington Beach Coach Tony Ciarelli said. “We felt, to beat Fountain Valley, we had to take Carter out of the game.

“But [the Barons] do a good job of finding the other people.”

Huntington Beach concentrated on Carter, which created opportunities for teammates like Scott Schutze and Jason Clairmont.

Fountain Valley won the game, 13-12. Carter caught only two passes, one for a touchdown.

But . . . “Where he really hurt us,” Ciarelli said, “was on defense.”

In that one-point victory, Carter made the tackle on a two-point conversion attempt.

Get the picture? Carter does more than catch long passes. He’s all over the field--wide receiver, free safety, kicker (two field goals and 15 for 15 in points-after) and, recently, punter.

“Whether he’s catching the ball or making a tackle or kicking the ball, he doesn’t think about it, he doesn’t get brain-locked,” said George Berg, Fountain Valley’s coach. “He keeps his composure and he relies on his athletic ability.”

There’s considerable athletic ability to draw from. Carter, 6 feet 3, also plays soccer and runs the 100 meters on the track team. He is being actively recruited by Washington, Colorado, Wisconsin and Nevada.

He also is being actively pursued by defenders, most of the time unsuccessfully if they’re trying to do it alone.

“Catching the football is the greatest thing in the world,” said Carter, who has a knack for getting open, turning short passes into long gains and long passes into touchdowns. “You can catch a five-yard pass, but when you get it, it’s such a rush.

“Any time the ball comes my way, my eyes get big, my heart gets pounding.”

The ball figures to come Carter’s way a lot over the next three weeks when the Barons play Los Alamitos (ranked No. 1 in Orange County), Edison and Esperanza (No. 3).

Carter has 35 catches, and 10 have been among Breska’s 14 touchdown passes. Breska has completed 44 passes to other receivers, yet Carter has gained 806 yards and the others 547.

Friday’s game against Los Alamitos represents a special opportunity for Carter and the Barons because it provides such a grand stage.

Few saw Fountain Valley beat Mater Dei (No. 2) in a passing league game during the summer. “As a group,” Carter said, “we realized we can play with the big boys.”

But a few thousand will watch the Barons host Los Alamitos Friday at Huntington Beach High, where Carter’s performance will be crucial.

To outscore Los Alamitos in a shootout, the Barons will certainly need Carter to show his game-breaking ability. To shut down Los Alamitos (averaging 46.1 points), the Barons need Carter, who has three interceptions, to excel defensively. Los Alamitos quarterback Ryan Hanson is completing 73% of his passes with 20 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

“It’s not just an individual goal for me [to do well], but for the offensive line to stop Bernard Riley and Sagan Atuitasi, for Breska to show that he’s a great quarterback and deserves to be up there among the elite,” Carter said. “As a team, we’re trying to show everybody we can play football too.”

The Barons are 6-1, 2-0 in the Sunset League and, as usual, are in the shadow of Los Alamitos and Esperanza. Not that Carter resents it.

“They deserve all the attention they get,” Carter said. “It’s a challenge to us to do something to get ourselves recognized. It’s not going to be given to us. We need to go out and make a name for ourselves.”

A victory over Los Alamitos would certainly do that. Fountain Valley hasn’t beaten the Griffins this decade.

Nothing would suit Carter better than to catch a few key passes in big situations.

“I love it when the ball comes my way in clutch situations and we’re under pressure,” he said. “I figure anybody on the team can do it, but if it was up to me, I want it in my hands. If the play is broken up [elsewhere] I don’t want to wonder, ‘What if it was thrown to me?’

“I think I work best in pressure situations, when it’s do-or-die.”