WILMINGTON – Fountain Valley broke through for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take a 30-16 victory over Banning in a nonleague game at Banning High School on Friday.
Trailing 10-9 to start the fourth, Barons quarterback Chad Olberding hit Ryan Finley with a 46-yard scoring pass to put Fountain Valley ahead, 15-10, but the 2-point conversion try was no good.
“Chad made the guy miss and threw over the top, and Ryan Finley is our go-to guy, two really special athletes that make stuff happen,” said Fountain Valley coach Ray Fenton, who lauded his team’s effort getting yards after contact as well.
“It takes an entire offense, everybody doing their jobs, to move it, and in the fourth quarter we were getting everybody to do that,” Fenton said.
Banning answered with a 10-play drive that took just more than three minutes, with Chris Fernandez recovering a fumble in the end zone, but its 2-point try was also no good, leaving the Pilots with a 16-15 lead.
The Barons (3-1) wasted little time before coming up with an answer, as Olberding scored on a 35-yard run to cap a four-play drive that lasted 88 seconds.
“That’s what you want to look at, how are you going to handle adversity,” said Fenton.
Olberding threw for 104 yards while adding 76 on the ground while Dakarai Barnett rushed for 103 yards, with more than half coming on a 56-yard run to help set up the final touchdown.
Villarreal led Banning (3-1) with 103 yards on 22 carries while Matthew Arredondo threw for 148 yards.
Fountain Valley plays Westminster at Westminster on Friday.
