Fountain Valley Struggles on Offense in Loss to El Dorado (2021)

Huntington Beach – “Cap” Sheue Field

In the battle of two 1-0 teams, the Fountain Valley High School football team struggled offensively to get points on the board, losing 21-6 on Friday at Ocean View High School.

Much like last week’s game, the Barons’ defense was on full display as early on, it forced a courtesy of Isaiah Burney. On El Dorado’s second drive, the Barons almost forced a second fumble courtesy of Richard Do, but the Golden Hawks recovered the ball despite the ball getting past three Baron players.

On the very next play, El Dorado scored first thanks to Blake Thomas hitting Gaven Rivera with a 51-yard touchdown pass to make the game 7-0. While Fountain Valley didn’t score in the opening quarter, it made sure to have a drive going into the second quarter.

The Barons rode the coattails of the running back tandem of Abdel Habibeh and Ben Pham, who eventually got them to the opponent’s three-yard line and eventually, Pham delivered the touchdown to the home team. The extra point, to the dismay of the Barons and their fans, hit the goalpost, as El Dorado led 7-6.

With El Dorado attempting to drive, Fountain Valley received some good fortune, as the snap sailed over the head of Thomas and eventually found its way down to their own 3-yard. Despite almost converting a 3rd and long situation, the Golden Hawks punted, giving the Barons another chance to score before halftime.

Fountain Valley continued to utilize the run game with Habibeh and Pham, as the two got the team into the redzone. With 14 seconds left and facing a 4th and 3, the Barons decided not to go for the field goal and went for it on fourth down, only to have Owen Tomko’s pass broken up.

The Golden Hawks went into halftime up 7-6.

After Fountain Valley punted on its opening drive in the third quarter, El Dorado fumbled the ball for a third time a few plays later. The Barons got all the way down to the Golden Hawks’ 20 but turned the ball over on downs.

Just like Fountain Valley mostly did in the first half, El Dorado used its running back Erik Martinson to gash the Barons defense and eventually get to the Barons’ 29. On the next play, what seemed to possibly be a loss of yardage due to a high snap, turned out to nearly be a touchdown as Thomas got all the way to the 1-yard.

Martinson eventually punched in the touchdown and made the score 14-6, which turned out to be score heading into the final quarter. Fountain Valley struggled offensively, as El Dorado kept bringing pressure and had anticipated the run game a lot better than in the first half.

With the Golden Hawks in Baron territory, Fountain Valley forced its fourth fumble and recovered it a third time as they started its offense on its own 46. But just like its last drive, it had to punt, costing them a chance to possibly tie the game.

Martinson eventually put the game on ice, as he went in for his second touchdown despite having a defender clinging to him. The Barons tried to put together one last drive to avoid being shut out in the second half, but Tomko’s pass was intercepted in the endzone for touchback.

Tomko went 8/16 for 65 yards for Fountain Valley while Scott Peshke had three receptions for 37 yards. Habineh had 20 carries for 85 yards while Pham had eight carries for 44 yards.

The Barons (1-1) return to action on Friday at El Toro at 7 p.m.