La Mirada Big Plays Knock Off the Barons

La Mirada scored three second-half touchdowns to break a halftime tie and go on to upset Fountain Valley, 35-27, in a nonleague game Friday at La Mirada Stadium.

In a span of six minutes in the third quarter, Matador quarterback Erik Meyer threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Robert Price and scored on a nine-yard run to give La Mirada, 3-0 and ranked No. 1 in Division VI, a 28-14 lead.

With 10 minutes 18 seconds left in the game, the Barons cut the Matadors’ lead to seven, 28-21, on Charles TeGantvoort’s six-yard touchdown reception from Casey Clark. Four minutes later, La Mirada running back Brandon Williams delivered the key blow to the Fountain Valley comeback hopes when he outran the Barons’ secondary and scored on a 87-yard run, giving the Matadors’ a 35-21 lead.

The Barons, 2-1 and ranked No. 6 in Division I, scored on a 25-yard pass play from Clark to Manuel Diaz on the games’ final play.

“We were intensified coming out from halftime,’ said Meyer, who completed nine of 16 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns. “We knew Fountain Valley is a highly ranked Division I team, and we didn’t want them coming into our house and pushing us around.’

Fountain Valley Coach Eric Johnson said his team will we able to regroup. “We didn’t stop them on defense,” Johnson said. “We gave up the big plays, but we’ll be able to forget this game and move on. It’s still preseason.”

The Barons drove 62 yards in 11 plays on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead. Diaz caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Clark in the corner of the end zone.