HARSH BATTLE WITH THE BOBCATS

It was the Veterans Game, and the No. 15 Football Hornets battled hard with No. 17 Saddleback College but in the end lost a tough game by the claws of the Bobcats 33-31.

Saddleback and Fullerton have had a wild history playing each other for many conference titles and playoff games over the years. The two teams first met on the gridiron in 1982 when Hal Sherbeck led the Hornets to a 38-6 victory in the Pony Bowl at Santa Ana Stadium. After today's loss, Fullerton still holds a narrow 20-18 lead over Saddleback for the all-time series.

The Hornets spotted the Bobcats 14 points in the first quarter when quarterback Trey Kukuk hit wideout Dane Benedix on 56-yard flea-flicker pass at 10:35. Running back Darrien Campbell hit paydirt on a 1-yard plunge at 8:17.

Fullerton was able to get it going on the very next drive that went 35 yards and ended with a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Tobey Schmidt at 5:42.

Saddleback's Darrien Campbell scored his second touchdown of the game with 3:51 left in the first quarter on a 2-yard jaunt. 

Adding more sting to the Hornet's 21-7 deficit, Bobcat kicker Sean Olvera-Harle was good for a 37-yard field goal at 13:24 in the second quarter.

The Hornets came back with a swagger in their step ripping off an incredible 17 unanswered points with just over four minutes left in the second quarter knotting the game up 24-24 by halftime. Kicker Charles Viorel got it started by knocking down a 40-yard field goal (4:21), a fumble recovery by FC allowed Schmidt the finish a 3-play drive on a 1-yard TD run, and a pretty catch-and-run touchdown pass from Schmidt to Myles Brown for 32 yards was the game tying score.

The third quarter was not kind to the Hornet offense as the team fell flat on all four of its drives having turned the ball over on three times (2 fumbles and an interception). The Bobcats took advantage scoring on a Sean Olvera-Harle 26-yard field goal (13:18) and a 24-yard pass from Kukuk to Andrez Lewis 2 (8:09).

The fourth quarter looked promising as Fullerton pulled within two points of Saddleback crossing the goal line on a late 11-play drive that ended in a 1-yard punch-in by Justin Honore with 2:36 left in regulation.

After burning two timeouts, the FC defense did the work and successfully forced a three-and-out on the Bobcats getting the ball back with 1:54 on the clock. Unfortunately, the win was not in the cards for the Hornets as an interception halted the potential comeback.

Up Next: The No. 15 Hornets (5-4 overall, 3-3 Southern Conference) play their final regular-season game at home against No. 2 Riverside City College on Saturday, November 16th. Kickoff is at 12:00 pm. Come out and support your Hornets for this big game!

*Photo by Matt Brown