Fountain Valley football drops to 0-2 with loss at North Torrance

TORRANCE —  Fountain Valley High head coach Chris Anderson came into Friday’s nonleague football game against North Torrance looking for his first win since being hired in the offseason.

Unfortunately for Anderson and Fountain Valley, they could not overcome four interceptions, including three in the first quarter, and the Barons succumbed to a 19-14 loss at North Torrance.

Fountain Valley (0-2) hosts Woodbridge on Sept. 5 at Huntington Beach High.

Tanner Ciok led the way on offense for the Barons, rushing 21 times for 59 yards and a touchdown. He also added a 15-yard touchdown reception.

Quarterback Jimmy Russell struggled, completing eight of 20 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. He also threw four interceptions.

“Three turnovers in the first quarter is critical,” Anderson said. “I think our defense did a good job of overcoming that, but over the course of a game when you come down to a one-possession game, you’re talking about three possessions lost for our offense. That’s a huge deal.”

Stephen Bradford led the North Torrance (1-1), rushing 19 times for 127 yards and a touchdown. He also caught three passes for 63 yards.

First-year Saxons quarterback Trevor Lagarde completed 18 of 36 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns, while receiver Blake Banks hauled in nine passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns.

North Torrance coach Todd Croce loved what he saw from Banks.

“He’s got good speed,” Croce said. “He can get down the field. We didn’t connect deep, but breaking off and running the shorter routes, he did a great job, and he had really good timing with the QB.”

The game started badly for the Barons as Russell threw three interceptions on his first four passes. Luckily for Russell, his defense stood its ground and didn’t surrender any points.

Fountain Valley broke the stalemate at the seven-minute mark of the second quarter after Evan Frink recovered a bobbled fourth-down snap in North Torrance territory. That set up a short field for the Barons and an eventual Ciok five-yard touchdown run.

Unfortunately for Fountain Valley, North Torrance’s talented running back, Bradford, made his presence felt in the third quarter. First, he broke off a 37-yard run to set up first-and-goal at the Fountain Valley 10. Three plays later, Lagarde connected with Banks for a 13-yard touchdown pass, tying the score at 7-7 after the extra point.

On the first play of their next possession, Bradford dashed up the middle and broke free for a 47-yard touchdown run. Following a failed extra point, North Torrance led 13-7.

Fountain Valley’s offense finally sprung to life in the waning seconds of the third. Russell completed a 44-yard pass to Anderson, helping set up a 15-yard touchdown catch by Ciok to stake Fountain Valley to a 14-13 lead.

North Torrance grabbed the lead right back to start the fourth quarter with another Banks touchdown reception, this one for eight yards to make it 19-14 after a failed two-point conversion attempt.

Fountain Valley’s final chance to take the lead back ended as the night began when North Torrance’s Denzel Alexander ripped away a Russell pass attempt for Blake Anderson in the end zone.

Ciok lamented his team’s lack of discipline in the loss, but he supported his quarterback.

“I think missed assignments on defense and missed blocks on offense killed us,” he said. “I think Jimmy played well. That was only his second start, and we had a couple turnovers, but he’s learning.”

Nonleague

North Torrance 19, Fountain Valley 14

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Fountain Valley 0 – 7 – 7 – 0 — 14

North Torrance 0 – 0 – 13 – 6 — 19

SECOND QUARTER

FV – Ciok 5 run (Martinez kick), 7:00.

THIRD QUARTER

NT – Banks 13 pass from Lagarde (McCormack kick), 4:13.

NT – Bradford 47 run (kick failed), 3:27.

FV – Ciok 15 pass from Russell (Martinez kick), :57.

FOURTH QUARTER

NT – Banks 13 pass from Lagarde (run failed), 9:47.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

FV – Ciok, 21-59, 1 TD.

NT – Bradford, 19-127, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

FV – Russell 8-20-4, 97, 1 TD.

NT – Lagarde 18-36-1, 219, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

FV – Anderson 5-76.

NT – Banks, 9-101, 2 TDs.

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