Barons have what it takes

Beat Tesoro, and eyebrows are going to raise.

But it might not have been the fact the Fountain Valley High football team won Friday night at Orange Coast College but the way the Barons did it that will turn heads. Fountain Valley outscored Tesoro, 22-0, in the second half on the way to a 35-14 victory over last year’s CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division finalist.

The Barons are still mentioned as “other” in this week’s Pac-5 Division poll, but that might not be the case for long.

“We wanted to prove to all of Orange County that we’re a powerhouse,” said senior quarterback Dominic Ragland, who had two touchdown passes, one each to Kyle Middlebrooks and Ryan Steadman. “Fountain Valley wants to re-establish their name, and our whole team’s excited. This is one of our hardest non-league schedules that we’ve had. We wanted to prove something.”

Middlebrooks scored on a pair of 22-yard runs in the fourth quarter to help put the game away, and Bryan De La Huerta added a 60-yard fumble return for a touchdown for the Barons (2-0).

“In these first two games, we’ve actually surprised ourselves,” Ragland said. “We lost a couple of players from last year, but we’ve had guys step up like [safety] Montana Merhoff, [linebacker/tight end] Mike Edwards, [linebacker] Austin Nguyen, Ryan Steadman and [lineman] Brandon Moss.”

Now, Fountain Valley will head to Lake Elsinore on Friday to tangle with the Temescal Canyon Titans (1-0). Coach John Shipp said the Titans offer a different look with their 3-5-3 defensive alignment and he expects a physical game.

“The kids go out every week and let their play do the talking,” Shipp said. “I told them that [the attention] is short-lived and we’ve got to go back to work now Consistency is key.”

Here’s a look at the rest of this week’s action:

TONIGHT

Edison (2-0) at Dana Hills (2-0), 7 p.m.: The Chargers figure to get their first real test of the season against the Dolphins before tangling with the top-ranked team in the Pac-5 Division, Servite, on Sept. 25 at Huntington Beach High. Edison is ranked No. 3 in the division.

“They’ve had two big wins, especially the one over Santa Margarita,” Edison Coach Dave White said of Dana Hills. “They’re really well-coached and they’re pretty balanced. They like to both run and pass, like we do. It’ll be a big test for us, definitely. We’ll finally see where we’re at.”

The Chargers are coming off a 35-6 victory over Long Beach Wilson. Senior quarterback Matt Viles threw three touchdown passes, two to Michael Rivera and one to Wade Houston.

FRIDAY

Westminster (0-1) vs. Marina (0-1) at Westminster High, 7 p.m.: The two teams share the stadium, but it’s technically a home game for Marina.

Marina is coming off a 21-10 loss to Capistrano Valley in its opener. The Vikings defense played well but two costly turnovers hurt their chances. Nick Dallas had a two-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the Marina score. Defensively, the play of the front four of Andrew Harris, Calvin Van Hofwegen, Tim Shenett and Alex Willingham slowed the Cougars for much of the game.

“The thing that killed us was two turnovers deep in our territory,” Coach Dan Petrone said.

Calvary Chapel (1-1) at Brethren Christian (1-0), 6:30 p.m.: The Warriors earned a 30-20 victory over Bloomington Christian in their opener, behind 157 rushing yards and three touchdowns from Ryan Randall. Now, Coach Bruce Eien’s squad will tangle with a Calvary Chapel squad that is coming off a 42-28 victory over Western Christian.

Ocean View (1-0) vs. University (1-0) at Irvine High, 7 p.m.: The Seahawks, ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll, face the Trojans in what Ocean View Coach Harold Eggers said is always a tough game.

“They’re pretty good,” Eggers said. “Looks like they move the ball well and play good defense. This is going to be a good test for us.”

Last week, the Seahawks got a 20-0 shutout of Calvary Chapel behind the running of Ryan Buckels, who totaled 171 yards and a touchdown. Blake Walker led the team with 61 receiving yards and also had a 60-yard interception return for a score.

Huntington Beach (0-1) at Villa Park (1-0), 7 p.m.: The Oilers will try to rebound from a 53-24 loss to JSerra in the opener. But it won’t be easy against Villa Park, ranked No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division poll.

Against JSerra, Huntington Beach was led by the rushing attack of Jack Dilbeck, who had 147 yards and two touchdowns. But the Oilers, down 14-10 after a quarter, were outscored, 26-0, in the second.

Los Amigos (0-1) at Loara (0-1), 7 p.m.: The Lobos were predictably blasted by Norwalk, 58-6, in their opener. Norwalk is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Division.

Now, they will try to rebound against Loara. The Saxons suffered a 7-6 loss to Savanna in their opener.

Week One Top Performers

Passing

 Matt Viles, Edison – 215 yards, 3 TDs.

Rushing

 Ryan Buckels, Ocean View – 171 yards, 1 TD.

Receiving

 Dylan Leener, Edison – 76 yards