Huntington Beach football earns key win over Fountain Valley
Huntington Beach High could be headed back to the CIF Southern Section playoffs for the fourth time in the past six autumns after getting the best of resurgent Fountain Valley.
AJ Vandermade made up for a costly fumble with two touchdown receptions and the Oilers scored points on four of five possessions from the start of the second quarter until the start of the fourth to claim a 23-12 victory in a Sunset League battle.
Huntington Beach (5-2, 1-1) figures to finish fifth in the league. The Oilers’ campaign closes against Corona del Mar (5-2, 1-1), Los Alamitos (5-2, 2-0) and Newport Harbor (4-3, 0-2), but its fifth win could provide an at-large berth when the postseason begins next month.
The Oilers could find greater success then than in the tough Sunset League. The program won the Southwest Division title in 2013 after going 5-5 and finishing fifth in league play.
“It was big,” said Vandermade, Huntington Beach’s dynamic playmaker, who was held to just the two touchdown receptions while facing double- and triple-coverage. “We knew the next three games are going to be tough, we did our best to come here and get the fifth win now. ... We made the postseason, and that was the No. 1 goal of the season, and now we get through the rest of the [regular] season and then focus on playoffs.”
Fountain Valley (4-3, 0-2), which lost its 17th successive league game, likely will miss out on the playoffs for the fourth straight year. The Barons close against Los Alamitos, Edison (7-0, 2-0) and Corona del Mar.
“We’ve got to win one somewhere,” Fountain Valley coach David Gutierrez said. “So we’re going to be prepped every week, like we were this week. We’ve just got to execute.”
Vandermade called it an “ugly” triumph, and it ended uglier. Nathan Tauanuu, whose late-third-quarter interception led to Vandermade’s second touchdown and a 23-6 advantage, sustained a potentially major knee injury on a post-whistle hit with 18 seconds to play, which led to jawing among the assistant coaches during the postgame handshakes and a brawl among players moments later.
Neither team moved the ball effectively in the first quarter, and Fountain Valley took a 6-0 lead on a fumble recovered in the end zone on the second play of the second quarter. Vandermade, taking a handoff inside the 5 for a reverse on third-and-9, was wrapped up by Fernando Garcia, then seemed to be slipping out of the Barons defensive end’s grasp at the 1 when Caine Elroy delivered a devastating blow.
The ball tumbled from Vandermade’s hands and was collected in the end zone by Michael Rocha.
“I took it, he swallowed me, took the second hit, fumbled,” Vandermade said. “[ I] came back, though. Had two touchdowns later; bounced back quick. I told the team at halftime, said, ‘I owe you guys one.’ [I] came back and I got one in the second half, too.”
Tyler Young quickly took care of the deficit, romping 64 yards — most of his 114 on 13 carries for the night — for a 6-6 tie 52 seconds later. Huntington Beach went ahead on its next possession, going 62 yards on nine plays, with Vandermade grabbing Daunte Bell’s throw in the end zone for a 23-yard score on third-and-9.
Jad Othman’s 36-yard field goal late in the third quarter made it 16-6, and then Tauanuu picked off Noa Banua at the Barons 40. Bell made two big plays — connecting with Musashi Ray for 20 yards and running 10 yards to the 6 on third-and-9 — before Vandermade took a screen pass 11 yards for the final score on the third play of the fourth quarter.
Banua amassed 78 of his 122 passing yards in the fourth quarter, connecting four times with Nolan Olivares — the last on a 6-yard touchdown — on Fountain Valley’s only successful drive. The next possession ended when Banua, after Brandon Soleau’s sack left a fourth-and-17, scrambled to midfield and then slid half a yard short of the first down. It capsulized the Barons’ night.
“Mistakes killed us. Undisciplined, you pay for it,” said Gutierrez, who is looking to rebuild the program after multiple fifth- or sixth-place finishes since 2010. “... I think we’re improved, but not good enough, obviously, if we can’t win games like this in our Sunset League. We want to stay in [this league], and we can’t win a game like this, where we’re kind of losing them ourselves and then [our opponents] execute when they needed to.”
The Oilers’ defense was solid most of the night, sacking Banua three times and forcing two turnovers, the first on a fumble Alan Valadez grabbed on the second half’s first play from scrimmage. He also blocked Olivares’ 23-yard field-goal try at the end of the first half.
“It’s a huge win for us. It’s a good team win,” Huntington Beach coach Brett Brown said. “I thought we were physical, I thought we played hard defense and we executed when we needed to. Hopefully, we’re healthy and we can keep the momentum going.”
Sunset League
Huntington Beach 23, Fountain Valley 12
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Huntington Beach 0 - 13 - 3 - 7 — 23
Fountain Valley 0 - 6 - 0 - 6 — 12
SECOND QUARTER
FV — Rocha recovers fumble in end zone (kick failed), 11:42.
HB — Young 64 run (run failed), 10:41.
HB — Vandermade 23 pass from Bell (Othman kick), 3:55.
THIRD QUARTER
HB — Othman 36 FG, 2:48.
FOURTH QUARTER
HB — Vandermade 11 pass from Bell (Othman kick), 10:57.
FV — Olivares 6 pass from Banua (kick failed), 8:19.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
HB — Young, 13-114, 1 TD.
FV — Habibeh, 7-34.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
HB — Bell, 8-15-0, 94, 2 TDs.
FV — Banua, 17-33-1, 122, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
HB — Vandermade 2-34, 2 TDs; Ray 3-33.
FV — Olivares, 3-28, 1 TD; Garcia, 3-25; Pham, 2-24; Arevalos, 4-13.
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