Nedal Abdelmuti

Nedal Abdelmuti might not have been at full strength for last

Friday’s Sunset League showdown with archrival Edison High, but the

Fountain Valley running back gave nothing short of a 110-percent effort.

Abdelmuti, still hobbled by a hamstring/knee injury he sustained in an

Oct. 15 game with Huntington Beach, weaved his way around the turf of

Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium as though nothing bothered him, in

the process, battering the Bell hopes of Edison.

The junior rushed for 161 yards on 16 attempts, opened the game’s scoring

with a 64-yard dash, then closed a spirited fourth quarter comeback by

the Barons with a pair of game-turning touchdown runs that propelled

Fountain Valley to a 35-21 victory in front of a standing-room-only

crowd.

“It felt great to have a game like that, especially since it came against

our biggest rival,” said Abdelmuti, who played varsity as a freshman at

Fountain Valley, then transferred to Edison for his sophomore year,

before returning to the Baron campus for his final two years. “That was a

great win for us, and now we have a shot at winning a league

championship.”

The fact that Abdelmuti has had such a big hand in Fountain Valley’s

impressive recent two-game stretch (important wins over Los Alamitos and

Edison) says something about his tenacity.

After going being tackled from behind and folding back on his left leg,

the former Fountain Valley Jr. All-American standout suffered a strain to

his hamstring - in addition to tearing all of the ligaments in his left

knee. Doctors told Abdelmuti he’d be out of action for a month, but,

after sitting out the Marina game, progressed enough to come back for a

key contest at Los Alamitos.

“I’d say I was about at 80-percent for Los Alamitos, and about 80-90

percent for the Edison game,” he explained. “I’m still not at full

strength right now, but I’d say I’m at about 90-percent this week.

Nothing will stop me from playing.”

Abdelmuti’s two fourth quarter TD runs against Edison put momentum on

Fountain Valley’s side. First, he knotted the score on an 11-yard

scamper. Then, on the Barons’ first play on their ensuing possession,

burst up the left sideline and went on to juke three would-be defenders

just inside the 10-yard line to complete a 50-yard scoring run, which put

Fountain Valley on top, 28-21, and on its way to victory.

“I think that when we’re a healthy team we’re really, really tough to

beat,” Abdelmuti added. “We now have a league championship within our

sight, but nobody thought we were that good enough to win league. We’re

out to prove to everybody just how good we are.”