LOPSIDED HOME WIN FOR FULLERTON

The No. 17 FC football squad welcomed Southwestern College to Hal Sherbeck Field on Saturday night and brought down the Jaguars 49-14.

The Jags and Hornets had their first tussle on the gridiron in 1962 with Fullerton winning it 14-0. After tonight's game, FC now owns an 8-2 lead for the all-time series.

Fullerton wasted no time getting on the board on their first drive after forcing a three-and-out on the Jags. Running back Elvis Vakapuna ate up 37 combined yards in the drive before finishing it with a 5-yard rushing touchdown. Kicker Charles Viorel knocked back the extra point at 9:21 in the first. 

The Hornet defense forced another three-and-out and soon after K'Vion Bills took the punt return 21-yards to the Southwestern 13-yardline. A play later, QB Tobey Schmidt tossed a 9-yard TD pass to Elvis Vakapuna. Viroel kicked in the point-after at 7:42.

The Jaguars cut the FC lead in half at 5:33 in the first when Hunter Maxwell threw a 43-yard pass to Cody Judge.

With a minute left in the first quarter Tobey Schmidt took the ball from under center and hustled across the goal line from 5-yards out.

Fullerton went on to score two more unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter landing the team a 35-7 lead by halftime. Elvis Vakapuna scored his third TD of the night on a 1-yard plunge (8:57), and Tobey Schmidt scored his second rushing TD on a 1-yard run to end the half.

The Hornets kept Southwestern scoreless in the third quarter, while punching in two touchdowns for a 49-7 advantage. Tobey Schmidt tossed his second TD of the game- a 12-yard pass to Jabre Bevineau (7:01), and Antoine Johnson Jr. forced a fumble on the Jag's punter picking it up for a 20-yard touchdown (5:45).

Armed with a big lead, FC ran the ball and the clock down, but Jaguars snuck in a fourth quarter touchdown on a 2-yard run by QB Hunter Maxwell. 

The FC defensive unit had a strong night holding Southwestern's offense to 159 total yards (22 yards net rushing), while totaling 6 sacks for a loss of 40 yards.

Up Next: The No. 17 Hornets (3-2 overall, 1-1 Southern Conference) have a bye on Saturday, October 12th but will get back to it on Thursday, October 17th (Homecoming) when they host No. 5 San Diego Mesa College (5-0, 2-0 ) for a conference showdown. Kickoff is at 7:00 pm.

*Photo by Aaliyah Skipper