Football: Barons seek W at home

A big win, and a pair of one-sided victories, highlighted the previous week of prep football action for local teams.

Marina, Edison and Brethren Christian each picked up wins in their second games of their respective seasons. On the other end, Huntington Beach suffered its first loss, while Fountain Valley and Ocean View also went down in defeat.

Six games involving the locals are on tap this week, starting with a Thursday matchup between Fountain Valley and Trabuco Hills.

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Thursday’s game

Trabuco Hills (0-2) vs. Fountain Valley (0-2)

(Huntington Beach High, 7 p.m.)

The Barons will play their home opener Thursday when they play host to the Mustangs.

“It’s going to be nice to be in surroundings that we are familiar with,” said Coach Ray Fenton whose Fountain Valley squad opened the season with road trips to Servite and Long Beach Wilson.

The Barons last week lost 26-11 at Wilson.

“I think our defense did a really good job,” Fenton said. “We only gave up 18 points (Wilson returned an interception for a touchdown) and we had two safeties. It’s rare to see anybody get two safeties in a game, and our guys did a great job. We improved from the week before against Servite.”

Trabuco Hills also is looking for its first win of the season Thursday.

The Mustangs won the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division championship last year and entered the season ranked No. 2 in the division. But consecutive losses to start the season, including a 37-21 loss last week to La Costa Canyon (CIF San Diego Section), have dropped the Mustangs to No. 7.

All-CIF senior running back Chad Crosbie, a major player in Trabuco’s march to a section title a year ago, is a big key to the Mustangs’ offense.

“That kid is outstanding,” Fenton said of Crosbie. “He led them to a CIF championship and he’s very, very difficult to tackle. On top of that, they have big receivers, and their offensive and defensive fronts are very good. It’s a tough matchup for us, and some way to open our home schedule.”

Fenton said the Barons will unveil new home uniforms for their home opener.

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Friday games

Canyon/Anaheim (1-1) vs. Edison (1-1)

(Huntington Beach High, 7 p.m.)

The Chargers also are playing their home opener when they play host to the Commanches at Huntington.

Edison notched its first win of the season last Friday by pinning a 38-0 shutout on Buena Park. Senior quarterback Grant Lowary (nine for 22, 191 yards) threw three touchdown passes including two to senior receiver Jacob Price (three receptions, 110 yards), and senior running back Jacob Marines (18 carries, 128 yards) rushed for two scores.

The Chargers defense shut down a Coyotes offense that had scored 75 points in its season opener two weeks ago.

“We had to get better from the first week (loss to Tesoro), and we worked hard and were more focused at practice leading up to the Buena Park game,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “Our defense was flying around like a typical Edison defense, gang-tackling and playing all over the field. Offensively, we got better than our first game but we still need to get better. We’re haven’t found our groove yet.”

Canyon won its opener 24-21 against Troy but last week was handed a 32-14 defeat by San Juan Hills (2-0). The Commanches are led on offense by senior quarterback Jason Harman and senior running back Charlie Treanor.

Canyon, coached by former Edison player Mike Ogas who played for White at Edison in the 1990s and also coached the Edison freshman football team, was the top-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division before its loss to San Juan Hills.

The Commanches are ranked third this week.

“They are well-coached,” White said. “Mike [Ogas] has done a good job over there. Last year, they won a [North Hills League] title and reached the CIF semifinals. They are a good football team.”

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Huntington Beach (1-1) vs. JSerra (2-0)

(Saddleback College, 7 p.m.)

The Oilers are on the road south again to face another strong opponent when they take on the Lions at Saddleback College.

Huntington dropped its first road challenge last week when San Clemente (No. 1, CIF-SS Southwest Division) scored a 51-21 victory over the Oilers. Senior running back Hunter Simmons ran for 161 yards and two touchdowns and senior back Moses Turner rushed for a score.

Huntington is JSerra’s homecoming opponent. The Lions have won their first two games handily, defeating Eleanor Roosevelt (48-13) and Chino Hills (42-14). Senior running back Avery Williams ran for a pair of touchdowns and also scored on a touchdown pass and had 155 yards of total offense in the win over Chino Hills. He also scored three times in the season-opening win against Roosevelt.

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Westminster (1-0) vs. Marina (1-1)

(Westminster High, 7 p.m.)

Marina, which scored a noteworthy victory last week, looks to keep its momentum going when it takes on Westminster in the annual Black and Blue rivalry game.

The Vikings rallied for a win that was a “first”: Coach Jeff Turley registered his first victory as head coach at Marina and the Vikings broke a 19-game losing skid in the process, doing so with a scintillating, third-quarter blitz that earned them a 31-6 victory at Ocean View.

“The monkey is off the back,” Turley said. “This is something I’ve wanted for these kids for some time. “I’m hoping this kicks off the change that we are looking for in this program. I truly believe we have the talent. We don’t have the numbers, but we have the talent. It’s just a matter of these kids believing in that talent.”

The Vikings made some key adjustments at halftime which helped them wipe out a 6-3 halftime deficit to Ocean View.

“I think it was nerves and hype at the beginning of the game that got to us,” Turley said. “We were down but we just got back to the basics in the second half, and that was blocking and tackling. We made a couple of personnel changes and we came out with a lot of energy in the second half.”

The Vikings looked like a new team at the outset of the second half. They scored on their first four possessions of the half, each coming in the third quarter, getting four touchdowns on only 14 plays. Three of those scoring drives took only two plays.

“We struck fast,” Turley said. “Our guys were really fired up in that third quarter.”

Junior tailback Cooper Malerstein started the second-half scoring by speeding straight up the middle of the field for a 71-yard scoring run. Two minutes later, junior wide receiver Noah Holmes ended another quick, two-play series when he took a slant pass from senior quarterback Dominic Gonzalez at the Ocean View 46 and outraced the secondary to the end zone for a 58-yard scoring play.

Sophomore tailback Blaine Riederich scored on a six-yard run and a little more than two minutes later, Marina’s final two-play scoring drive of the quarter came when Gonzalez lofted a 22-yard scoring pass to Holmes in the end zone.

Riederich, who also had an interception, had a 73-yard TD run negated by a Marina penalty in the opening half.

Friday’s win is the first for the Marina program since it defeated Ocean View, 33-14, in the second game of the 2013 season.

Westminster opened up its season on a high note last week. The Lions, preseason No. 5 in the CIF-SS Southern Division poll, rallied in the fourth quarter for 13 points to wipe out a 26-14 deficit and stun No. 1 and defending Southern Division champ Garden Grove. Running back Isayah Anderson rushed for three touchdowns in the win.

That win catapulted the Lions to No. 1 this week in the Southern Division.

“Westminster is a very good football team, and we are looking forward to the rivalry game,” Turley said. Turley said all military (active and veteran) and first responders (fire, police) will receive free admission to Friday’s game. Marina, the designated home team, will wear new jerseys for the game.

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Ocean View (0-1) vs. Valley Christian (2-0)

(Valley Christian High, 7 p.m.)

The Seahawks will attempt to regroup from a season-opening loss to Marina when they travel to Cerritos to face the undefeated Crusaders.

Ocean View held the halftime lead last week on Marina but suffered a 31-6 defeat. The Seahawks mounted their only scoring drive midway through the second quarter, driving from their own 26 to the end zone. The series ended when junior running back Adel Holmes took scoring honors when he broke away at the line of scrimmage for a five-yard TD run.

The Seahawks led, 6-3, at the half, but were outscored by Marina, 28-0, in the third quarter.

“I saw a lot of good things from our young team, and we had a lot of guys playing their first time on varsity, but we simply ran out of gas,” Ocean View Coach Luis Nunez said. “That third quarter happened real fast. This team will be OK, though.”

Valley Christian has racked up 98 points and allowed just six in its two wins. The Crusaders posted a 50-0 shutout at Laguna Beach two weeks ago, and last week took a 48-6 victory from city rival Cerritos. Running backs Robert Downs, Quaid Kawana and Dominic Paul each scored twice in the win.

The Crusaders are ranked No. 9 in the CIF-SS Northwest Division.

“It will be a tough matchup,” Nunez said of Friday’s game. “We need to work on a few things this week and get ready for a talented Valley Christian team.”

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Workman (0-1) vs. Brethren Christian (2-0)

(Ocean View High, 7 p.m.)

Brethren Christian, which has had its offense in high gear at the outset of the season, goes for its third win when it plays host to the Lobos from the City of Industry.

BC is averaging 59 points a game. Last week, the Warriors went to Boron (0-2) and whipped the Bobcats, 56-19.

The Warriors, ranked eighth in the CIF-SS East Valley Division, are giving up less than 10 points a game and have a shutout to their credit.

“We played really well,” BC Coach Pat McInally said. “They were tough and never stopped coming at us.

“Our running game was very strong and our quarterback [Bobbie Conklin] was outstanding in windy conditions. Our defense played really well. A lot of big hits, and interception (Cole Miller) for a touchdown.”

Workman started its season last week and the Lobos were defeated, 34-15, by Hacienda Heights Wilson. Senior running back Adrian Salgado rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries in the loss.