HORNETS BEST THE PIRATES

HORNETS BEST THE PIRATES: It was Homecoming for Fullerton College and the Hornet football team did not disappoint defeating Orange Coast College 59-6.

The game began with a bang as Lavorrie Johnson took the opening kickoff 100 yards for six points. The extra point by Jesse Aguilar was good.

The Hornets went on to score 21 more points in the 1st quarter on a 5 yard pass from Conor Bednarski to Colin Floyd at 8:35, a 7 yard run by Ryan Byrd at 3:37, and a 27 yard interception return by Isaiah Fullerton-Talley at 3:24,

By the end of the first half, Fullerton had a commanding 38-0 lead over the Pirates.

FC ran the ball in the second half of the game as they racked up 302 total yards (42 rushing attempts) and 76 total yards passing (15 attempts).

Up Next: The Hornets (5-4 overall, 4-1 conference) will travel to Santa Ana College to take on the Dons for the 90th Key to the County game on Saturday, November 10th @ 1:00 pm.

For 90 years, the football teams from Fullerton College and Santa Ana College have done battle on the gridiron once a year in what is believed by many to be California community college's longest-running football rivalry.

Since their first meeting in 1916, a most-fitting scoreless tie, the two teams have played 89 times including 64 consecutive years from 1945 to the present. Fullerton has won 44 of the previous 89 meetings and holds a slight 44-41-4 series advantage over Santa Ana. The Hornets have kept the key on the Fullerton campus (10 out of the last 11 years) with a 21-13 victory at Fullerton's District Stadium last season.

The Hornets and Dons will wrap-up the 2012 regular season playing for the 90th time on Saturday, November 10th at 1:00 pm when Fullerton visits Santa Ana College at Eddie West Stadium.

Early on, the rivalry captured the attention of Orange County, when the two teams began meeting on Thanksgiving Day. The "Turkey Bowl," as it was known, lasted from 1925 until 1958 and reportedly drew crowds of 15,000 and more. Several times in the series, the stakes have gone beyond local bragging rights. In 1968, both teams entered the contest with identical records of 6-0 and the game had to be played at the newly constructed Anaheim Stadium to accommodate the large crowd.

The latest chapter was written in 1997, when former mayor and current State Assemblyman Chris Norby, a longtime Hornet fan, introduced the "Key to the County," a perennial trophy to be turned over to the winner of each year's game. The key was unveiled at the 75th meeting at Titan Stadium on November 15, 1997.

The large iron key features Santa Ana's colors (red and black) on one side and lists the score of every Dons' victory in the series. The flip side displays the Hornets' colors (blue and gold) with the scores of all the Fullerton wins.