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Fountain Valley too much for NHHS in Sunset League opener

(Kevin Chang / Daily Pilot)
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The final play in last year’s Sunset League finale between Newport Harbor and Fountain Valley decided the winner.

It didn’t take that long to decide the outcome in Thursday’s league opener featuring the same two programs.

The Barons rushed for three touchdowns in the opening quarter and took a 20-point lead at Newport Harbor. They exacted revenge on the Sailors, routing the hosts, 51-20.

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The Sailors had no answers for quarterback Chad Olberding. The senior rushed 26 times for 253 yards and four touchdowns, and he threw a 14-yard touchdown. Olberding burned Newport Harbor with touchdown runs of 75, 24, two and 50 yards, scoring in every quarter.

Even his backup, Kent Swift, rushed for a 34-yard touchdown against Newport Harbor late. The 51 points are the most the Sailors have allowed since suffering a 52-14 setback in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section West Valley Division playoffs last year.

Newport Harbor (2-4, 0-1 in league), which has lost four in a row, doesn’t look like a playoff team this year.

The Sailors made the postseason last year because they rushed for a game-winning one-yard touchdown as time expired, beating Fountain Valley, 34-33, to clinch third place in league. The Barons’ playoffs hopes ended on that night, and one player who hasn’t forgotten is defensive lineman Keiti Iakopo.

Iakopo created havoc, sacking Newport Harbor quarterback Michael Bonds four times. The Barons also intercepted Bonds twice and recovered a Bonds fumble.

“I think it was just a redemption game for me, because on the last play [in the league finale last year], they ran it straight down the middle and I was playing nose guard that game,” Iakopo said. “That play decided our fate for CIF and I didn’t make it, and I really took it to heart. This year I wanted to get my revenge on Newport.”

The Barons (4-2, 1-0) prevailed against Newport Harbor for the first time in six years. They’re on a roll right now having won four straight games.

Fountain Valley’s ground game looked impressive against the Sailors, amassing 396 yards. Newport Harbor managed only 68 rushing yards, 53 of those on its final play, a touchdown run by backup tailback Roger Sanborn.

Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley, who is on his worst skid in 20 years, didn’t find many positives from the team’s latest blowout loss. Newport Harbor has lost by an average of almost four touchdowns per game.

“Special teams weren’t very good. Offense wasn’t very good,” Brinkley said. “We didn’t block. We didn’t tackle great. We had missed assignments. We did a lot of things wrong.”

A lot went wrong early on for the Sailors.

On the game’s opening possession, Newport Harbor went three-and-out. The punt traveled only 17 yards, setting up the Barons on the Sailors’ 38. Fountain Valley was unable to capitalize on the great field position, turning the ball over on downs on Newport Harbor’s 31.

The next two possessions played out eerily similar. The Sailors punted after three plays, and the punt went for only 19 yards. Fountain Valley, taking over on the opponent’s 48, once again turned the ball over on downs near the 30-yard line.

The Barons finally made something happen on their third possession, which began on their 25-yard line. On first down, Olberding faked the dive and went left and up the seam for a 75-yard touchdown run. Midway through the first quarter Fountain Valley led, 6-0.

An interception by Tyler Vaimaona helped set up the Barons’ next score. Vaimaona returned the pick 28 yards to Newport Harbor’s 24 with 4:30 left in the first quarter. Two plays later, Olberding used his legs, rushing for a 24-yard touchdown.

Swift helped set up the Barons’ third score in the first 12 minutes. He returned a punt 43 yards to the Sailors’ 22. For the third time in the quarter, the Barons went for it on fourth down, and this time they converted.

After Olberding’s first four attempts went incomplete, he completed a pass. The completion, a 12-yarder to Jacob Garrett on fourth-and-11, kept the drive alive. A couple of plays later, running back George Sykes rushed for a two-yard touchdown with 36 seconds to go in the first quarter.

Newport Harbor, which only moved the chains once in the first quarter, found its rhythm on offense in the second quarter. Bonds connected with a receiver for the first time, his first six passes were unsuccessful.

The junior completed three straight, the biggest was a 49-yard pass to wideout Reed Rutter (four catches for 90 yards) that put Newport Harbor on the opponent’s 25-yard line. The Sailors went to their fullback, Jamie McNeil, for their first score, a nine-yard touchdown run with 7:25 left in the first half.

The Sailors added a second touchdown almost three minutes later. Two screen passes to running back Cole Kinder, one for 12 yards and another for 36, set the offense up with a first-and-goal near the five-yard line. Bonds hit tight end Kobe Benter for a five-yard touchdown, cutting Newport Harbor’s deficit to 20-14.

Fountain Valley’s Trae Davis responded on the ensuing kickoff, returning it 49 yards to Newport Harbor’s 45-yard line. Olberding beat the Sailors before halftime with a play-action pass to running back Moe Falealii that resulted in a 14-yard touchdown.

The first 24 points in the second half belonged to the Barons. They scored a touchdown off a turnover in the third and fourth quarter.

The Barons head into their next road game against league favorite Los Alamitos (2-4, 0-1) with a lot of momentum, while the Sailors go into Huntington Beach hurting.

“I haven’t even thought about [them],” Brinkley said of the Oilers, who are 2-3 overall and kick off league action on Friday against Marina at 7 p.m.

Fountain Valley 51, Newport Harbor 20

SCORE BY QUARTERS

FVHS 20 – 7 – 10 – 14 — 51

NHHS 0 – 14– 0 – 6 — 20

FIRST QUARTER

FV – Olberding 75 run (kick failed), 5:31.

FV – Olberding 24 run (Filipek kick), 4:17.

FV – Sykes 2 run (Filipek kick), :36.

SECOND QUARTER

NH – McNeil 9 run (Blake kick), 7:25.

NH – Benter 5 pass from Bonds (Blake kick), 4:23.

FV – Falealii 14 pass from Olberding (Filipek kick), 1:55.

THIRD QUARTER

FV – Olberding 2 run (Filipek kick), 9:29.

FV – Filipek kick 29 FG, 5:21.

FOURTH QUARTER

FV – Olberding 50 run (Filipek kick), 9:38.

FV – Swift 34 run (Filipek kick), 4:21.

NH – Sanborn 53 run (kick failed), :48.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

FV – Olberding, 26-253, 4 TDs.

NH – Sanborn, 3-58, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

FV – Olberding, 3-10-0, 36, 1 TD.

NH – Bonds, 14-31-2, 205, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

FV – Garrett, 2-22.

NH – Rutter, 4-90.

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