FOOTBALL: HORNETS FALL IN TOP-10 DUEL

The No. 8 FC football squad hosted No. 6 College of the Canyons in a non-conference matchup on Saturday falling to the Cougars in a close one 22-17.

The last time the Hornets and Cougars met was in 2017 with Fullerton winning it 42-28. The all-time series record between the two teams now stands at 5-3 with Fullerton holding the lead. The series began in 2007, which was a barn-burning 32-31 FC victory that took place at College of the Canyons.

With only one live-action game under their belt, the Hornets still looked a bit rusty committing a couple of foolish penalties along with 5 turnovers. This team is deep with very talented football players, but they will have to stop getting in their own way in order to win the big games.

In first drive of the game for Fullerton, the offense moved the ball down the field with ease opening up with a nice 19-yard pass from Chandler Galban to Elisha Thompson. There was another nice pass from Galban to Branden Rankins for 8 yards. Then Rankins broke loose for a 21-yard gain and the ball was stripped away with Canyons taking over from its own 20-yardline. That was the theme of the game for Fullerton- take one step forward and then two steps back.

On the ensuing Cougar drive, they marched down the field for 11 plays. On the 12th COC nailed a 27-yard field goal by Ty Morrison. Canyons led 3-0 at 7:42 in the first quarter.

After a Fullerton three and out, COC took over scoring the game's first touchdown in four plays on a 20-yard pass from QB Colton Doyle to Trevon Elliot. The PAT was good, and the Hornets found themselves down 10-0 at 4:06 in the first quarter.

The Fullerton offense came to life on its next possession moving the ball in 15 plays to paydirt. Rankins punched the ball in from the COC 1-yardline bringing the Hornets back into the fold at 14:26 of the second quarter.

Cougar kicker Ty Morrison struck again with 1:28 left in the first half when he booted a 43-yarder through the southside uprights. FC trailed 13-7 at the half.

In the opening drive of the second half, College of the Canyons relied on the leg of Morrison once again. An 11-play drive ended with Morrison putting three points on the board on a 31-yard field goal at 11:08.

The Morrison kicks kept coming as he nailed down his fourth field goal of the day, a 35-yard shot on an 11-play Cougar drive.

In a 19-7 hole, the Hornets answered back on their next drive scoring a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Devin Moore. Fullerton was back in the game 19-14 with 52 seconds left in the third quarter.

On the next Canyon drive, FC caught a big break forcing a fumble in which FC linebacker Junior Wily recovered. The Hornets were back in business heading into the fourth quarter. Ten plays later, the drive ended with a Ceasar Velaquez field goal from 35-yards out.

The final points of the game were had by none other than Canyons kicker Ty Morrison, who hit his 5th field goal (32 yards) to put the Cougs up for good at 22-17.

Fullerton had a couple of chances with 3 minutes left in the game, but a couple of interceptions put a halt to those.

Up Next: Fullerton (2-1 overall) will host another one at Yorba Linda High School on Saturday, September 25th when Allan Hancock College (3-0 after beating Cerritos today 15-6) comes to town. Kickoff is at 4:00 pm.

*Photo by Jim McCormack

Re-watch the game- click here.

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