Fountain Valley Breaks Through

Eric Johnson has found a winning formula this season after inconsistency and injuries plagued his first two years as Fountain Valley High’s football coach.

The Barons showed flashes of promise in 1999 by upsetting then undefeated Los Alamitos and knocking off favored Anaheim Servite and Huntington Beach Edison. But they lost several games they should have won and finished 6-5 after losing to Long Beach Poly in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

Fountain Valley’s 2000 season was even more tumultuous as the Barons suffered injuries to key players, preventing them from building on the success of the previous year. Fountain Valley finished 5-6, again losing to Poly in the first round of the playoffs.

This season, the Barons (5-0) won’t have to worry about playing a juggernaut such as Poly in the first round--a task usually reserved for wild-card teams--if they continue to build on their red-hot start.

Led by transfer running back Camron Carmona and quarterback Casey Clark, who has thrown for seven touchdowns with one interception, Fountain Valley has been as dependable as a Swiss watch.

“He’s having his best year,” Johnson said of Clark, a senior in his third season as a varsity starter. “He’s leading the team, he has a lot of confidence and poise.”

Still, Johnson cautioned that the Barons, No. 13 in The Times’ rankings, haven’t proven much despite victories over Compton Dominguez and San Clemente.

“Preseason was a warm-up and a good sign, but now the real important games start,” said Johnson, who spent 10 years as Santa Ana Mater Dei’s defensive coordinator before coming to Fountain Valley.

Johnson may find out just how good his team is after facing No. 22 Los Alamitos (3-2) in a Sunset League opener at 7 tonight at Long Beach Veterans Stadium. The Barons have won only one of the last 11 meetings between the schools.

“Over the years, I’ve always thought they were good,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said of Fountain Valley. “When you’re 5-0, you’re really good.”

*

Experience counts: Irvine Northwood has seniors on its roster for the first time in the school’s three-year history, and the added maturity is paying dividends.

The Timberwolves (5-0) have already won three games more than they did last year heading into tonight’s Pacific Coast League opener against Costa Mesa (4-1) at Irvine High.

“Our kids are ready to play this year,” Northwood Coach Rick Curtis said. “They know what it takes to win. Last year was a learning experience.”

Northwood went 2-8 and 0-5 last year in its first varsity season with a roster comprising sophomores and juniors. The team played a junior varsity schedule two years ago with freshmen and sophomores.

“We never had a point where we were intimidated [last season],” Curtis said. “The kids played hard the whole season, and we were in every game except the last game [a 57-7 loss to Costa Mesa].”

The Wolverines will combat the Mustangs this time with tailback Andy Meyer, averaging 9.8 yards a carry, and free safety Bryan Bentrott, who has three interceptions and 59 tackles.

*

Third and inches: Even if Long Beach Poly had defeated Concord De La Salle last week to end the Spartans’ national-record winning streak at 116 games, Jackrabbit Coach Raul Lara noted, the victory wouldn’t help Poly accomplish any of its goals for the rest of the season.

“It doesn’t affect our [playoff] seeding, we’re not Moore League champions, we’re not [Southern Section] champions, so we still have a lot to accomplish,” Lara said....

Several reporters at the Poly-De La Salle game wrote that De La Salle fans chanted “Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!” after the Spartans had secured victory. In fact, as De La Salle fan Bob Hilliard pointed out, the fans chanted “D-L-S! D-L-S!” ...

Twentynine Palms senior running back Marcus Lampkin has been a study in consistency, rushing for at least 200 yards in every game but one. His biggest outputs have been 290 yards in the Wildcats’ opening victory and 308 yards in last week’s triumph over Riverside Notre Dame.

Newhall Hart enters Foothill League play this week against Burbank with a 48-game league winning streak dating to 1991....

*

Staff writers Eric Sondheimer and Gary Klein contributed to this story.