Fountain Valley Defense Makes the Winning Plays

La Mirada High broke a cardinal rule Friday night, and it turned out to be just the break Fountain Valley needed.

The Matadores took points off the board in the first quarter, accepting a roughing-the-kicker penalty after Sam Orr kicked a 47-yard field goal.

The Barons’ defense made them pay for that decision, shutting them out the rest of the way and also making possible both Fountain Valley touchdowns in a 16-7 victory before about 3,000 spectators at Huntington Beach High.

“They got a little greedy and it cost them,” first-year Fountain Valley Coach Eric Johnson said. “It’s kind of an old standard that you don’t take points off the board. As a defensive coach, I like to see that.”

La Mirada (2-1), a Southern Section finalist last year and currently ranked No. 2 in Division VI, would have led 10-0 had it settled for Orr’s field goal with about three minutes left in the first quarter.

Instead, the Matadores took the penalty. But the Barons (2-1) held to force another field-goal try, and this time Orr missed from 27 yards.

“When they took that penalty,” said Steven Fifita, Fountain Valley’s All-Sunset League defensive end, “I had a feeling they were gonna lose three points.”

Fountain Valley got on the board with a 32-yard Matt Hanson field goal 3:07 before halftime, then the defense made two game-turning plays.

First, with La Mirada threatening at the Baron 17, safety Casey Clark intercepted a Chris Cox pass and returned it 51 yards to the La Mirada 44. Six plays later, Fifita scored on a three-yard run and the Barons led 10-7 with 34 seconds left in the third quarter.

Moments later, Cox fumbled a snap in shotgun formation and Fifita picked it up and ran 18 yards for a touchdown with 8:34 to play.

Fountain Valley’s Nedal Abdelmuti rushed for 120 yards in 18 carries. Otherwise it was all defense--the rest of the Barons’ offense totaled minus-eight yards, and La Mirada’s offense managed only 131 yards.