Oilers Open League Play With Win Over Fountain Valley (2021)

Huntington Beach – ‘Cap’ Sheue Field

Oilers open league play with win over Fountain Valley

The Huntington Beach Oilers opened Sunset League play with a dominating 42-7 win over Fountain Valley on Friday at Sheue Field. The Oilers improved to 4-2 overall and are 1-0 in league play.

Senior quarterback AJ Perez threw for 237 yards with two touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown. Running back EJ Riederich finished with 13 carries for 70 yards and four receptions for 50 yards.

“Our kids battled and competed,” Huntington Beach head coach Brett Brown said. “We have a good football team, we just can’t shoot ourselves in the foot.

Huntington Beach scored on its first possession of the game with an 8-yard run by Perez. Riederich punched in the two-point conversion to give the Oilers an 8-0 lead.

Riederich continued his strong running this season with a 16-yard touchdown run that gave the Oilers a 15-0 lead with 1:36 left in the first quarter.

After Henry Eddy intercepted Fountain Valley quarterback Owen Tomko, Perez hit Hideo Ray for a 32-yard reception. On the next play, junior linebacker Nathan Tauanuu took the handoff and scored on a 12-yard run to give HB a 22-0 lead in the second quarter.

Fountain Valley scored its first and only touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run from running back Abdel Habibeh. The Barons trailed 22-7 heading into halftime. Huntington Beach’s defense held the Barons scoreless in the second half and only allowed Habibeh 25 yards rushing on 15 carries.

“We preach to get to the football and fly around,” Brown said about his defense. “And we are doing that. We knew we had to be physical against a Sunset League opponent and we need to continue to do that moving forward.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Perez hit Ray for an 11-yard touchdown. Perez put the game out of reach when he hit Riederich out of the backfield for a 37-yard touchdown and a 36-7 lead.

“I thought Perez played well,” Brown said. “I thought he did some really good things. He’s our leader and we go as he goes.”

Backup quarterback Vaughn Popp threw a 35-yard touchdown to Hunter Gray to cap the scoring for Huntington Beach. Next up for the Oilers is a conference road game against Corona del Mar on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. Fountain Valley (1-5, 0-1) will host Newport Harbor.