Hornets rebound in a big way
October 5, 2009 1 Comment
After a sloppy loss at College of the Canyons last week, that brought Fullerton down from 3rd to 11th in the Southern California JC football rankings, the Hornets had everything working against previously unbeaten conference rival Orange Coast College in a 38-10 win last Saturday.
Heading into this matchup, OCC had the best rush defense in Southern California, with minus-72 yards rushing allowed in their first three games.
That was before they met Hornet running backs Kenny Turner and Jerme LaGarde.
Two nights before their game against the Pirates, Turner told Hornet sports reporter Ramiro Delacruz that he was not phased by OCC’s numbers in regards to rush defense. Turner went on to say that it was time for them to start thinking positive.
The freshman runner backed up those words by gaining 134 yards on 16 carries, single-handedly erasing that minus-72 mark. Turner also had a touchdown.
If that wasn’t enough, LaGarde added 81 yards on just six carries and a touchdown of his own.
The Hornets once again used three quarterbacks, but only went to backups Darius Banks and Matthew Heady once the game was out of reach for the Pirates.
Starting quarterback Kyle Essington wasn’t incredibly accurate, but got the job done with 5-13 passing for 99 yards and a touchdown strike to Justin Dunford. The three quarterbacks combined to go 11-21 for 150 yards with no interceptions.
Fullerton’s second task was to find a way to stop OCC running back Ray Holley, who came into the game averaging 176 yards rushing after three games.
The Hornets kept Holley from reaching 100 yards rushing for the first time this season, although it was by the slimmest of margins (99). Fullerton also prevented Holley, as well as just about everyone else, from getting into the end zone.
The Hornets got on the board early when DJ Sophus returned a punt 41 yards for a touchdown. Turner and Pat Roxas each had rushing touchdowns as Fullerton cruised to a 21-3 halftime lead.
Banks scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak and kicker Vincent Pagazza hit a 26-yard field goal in the third and Essington hit Dunford for a 35-yard score in the fourth quarter.
Pirate running back Brandon Allen scored on a 1-yard plunge with just under five minutes remaining to make the score somewhat respectable at 38-10.
This game was exactly what Fullerton needed just a week removed from their worst performance of the season and now they can think positively heading into a bye-week before a big showdown against another undefeated conference rival, Grossmont College on Oct. 17.
About Nathan Percy
nice article. kyle is his name. lol cant believe that turner would predict should a thing.