Orange County Player of the Week : First, He Had No Option, Now Fisher’s Running It

It was the position nobody wanted to play--or actually could play--so Damon Fisher was elected to play quarterback for Bolsa Grande High School again this season.

Needless to say, Fisher didn’t participate in that election. Damon Fisher , come on down .

Fisher, a 5-foot 10-inch junior, didn’t want to spend his time trying to peer over Bolsa Grande’s line. What he wanted to do was run.

“I wanted to play running back,” Fisher said. “But you need a good running back-quarterback to run the option and nobody else could run it. It was the best for the team, and I’m having fun now.”

So are his teammates. The Matadors made school history last Friday with their first playoff victory, a 39-28 decision over Fullerton. Bolsa Grande meets Tustin Friday in the second round of Central Conference playoffs.

Fisher, The Times’ Player of the Week, rushed for 134 yards in 9 carries and completed 3 of 7 passes for 49 yards.

More importantly, Fisher, playing safety, turned the game around when he recovered a Fullerton fumble and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown in the last minute of the third quarter. It was his second touchdown of the game and increased Bolsa Grande’s lead to 32-21.

The Matadors led, 26-0, at halftime. Fisher scored the first touchdown on Bolsa Grande’s second play from scrimmage, going 91 yards on an option play.

“We’ve given him the responsibility of reading the option,” Bolsa Grande Coach Greg Shadid said. “He has to decide whether to hand it off, keep it or pitch it. . . . That’s a very big responsibility for a high school kid, especially one who is a junior. Damon has improved constantly. He has improved so much from last year.”

Fisher also had a strong effort the week before when Bolsa Grande clinched the Garden Grove League championship. The Matadors defeated La Quinta, 28-17, to win their first league championship outright. Bolsa Grande shared the title with two other teams in 1972.

Against La Quinta, Fisher completed only two of three passes but those were for touchdowns of 20 and 52 yards. He scored another on a one-yard run.

“I haven’t had a game I could call my best,” Fisher said. “I don’t think I did as much as I could have against Fullerton. In the second half, I made lots of mistakes. I think my best game is yet to come.”