Trio leads Fountain Valley past North Torrance

Fountain Valley High is off to its second straight 2-0 start in football.

Behind quarterback Josh Stupin, wide receiver Kishaun Sykes and running back Mathew Fuiava, the host Barons defeated North Torrance 28-7 in a nonleague game at Huntington Beach High on Friday.

Stupin passed for 242 yards and a touchdown, Sykes finished with five receptions for 111 yards and one touchdown, as well as a rushing score, and Fuiava rushed 13 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

It was a slow start for Fountain Valley, ranked No. 8 in the CIF Southern Section Division 8 poll, as the Barons could not make it past midfield on their first drive.

But things came together on their second drive.

The Barons got on the board first after Fuiava ran the ball in from 13 yards, completing an 89-yard drive. The extra-point attempt was no good, and Fountain Valley led 6-0.

The Barons struck again midway through the second quarter. Stupin threw a 65-yard touchdown to Sykes. With a two-point conversion, Stupin finding Brandon Krause, Fountain Valley took a 14-0 lead.

On the next drive, the Saxons (1-1) struck back. Quarterback Victor Puelles rushed for a 14-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit in half with 2:56 left in the first half.

Fountain Valley responded. The Barons marched down the field, aided by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on North Torrance that put Fountain Valley in the red zone. Two plays later, Sykes rushed for an 11-yard touchdown, increasing the lead to 21-7 with 58 seconds to go before halftime.

North Torrance had a chance for another score before the half. But its attempt was stifled when Jerry Ngo picked off Puelles near the red zone.

The Saxons made a change at quarterback after the break, going with Brayden DeOcampo. Unfortunately, he was not able to do much through the air.

With both teams going scoreless in the third quarter, Fountain Valley took advantage of a short field, resulting in the Barons’ final score.

Stupin used some trickery to hand the ball off behind his back. With the defense looking for the pass, a huge lane opened up to give Fuiava an 11-yard touchdown run.

The Saxons tried to hurry on their next drive and moved into Fountain Valley territory, but DeOcampo was intercepted by Aaron Nguyen with less than five minutes left.

Fountain Valley has a chance to begin 3-0, something it hasn’t done in nine years, on Aug. 31. The Barons will hit the road for the first time when they face Woodbridge at University High.

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Nonleague

Fountain Valley 28, North Torrance 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

North Torrance 0 – 7 – 0 – 0 — 7

Fountain Valley 6 – 15 – 0 – 7 — 28

FIRST QUARTER

FV – Fuiava 13 run (kick failed), 2:58.

SECOND QUARTER

FV – Sykes 65 pass from Stupin (Krause pass from Stupin), 6:02.

NT – Puelles 14 run (kick), 2:56.

FV – Sykes 11 run (Wright kick), :58.

FOURTH QUARTER

FV – Fuiava 11 run (Wright kick), 5:40.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

NT – Bradford, 25-88.

FV – Fuiava, 13-104, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

NT – Puelles, 5-10-1, 62.

FV– Stupin, 18-27-1, 242, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

NT – DeOcampo, 4-35.

FV – Sykes, 5-111, 1 TD.

MIKE REGALADO is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @TheBigDisco