Huntington Beach football rides huge second quarter to win over Fountain Valley

Tyler Young knew it might be a special night after the first play from scrimmage, when he burst up the middle for 13 yards. He was just getting started.

The senior running back ran amok for Huntington Beach on Friday night, dominating Fountain Valley’s defense with 255 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries in a 30-13 Homecoming triumph that boosted the Oilers into a third-place tie in the Sunset League and confirmed their playoff aspirations with two weeks to go in the regular season.

Young had 189 yards by halftime, ran for double-digit yards nine times, including 24- and 38-yard gains to set up touchdowns, and gave Huntington Beach (4-4, 1-2 in the Sunset League) 13 first downs. He also caught three balls for 22 yards, one of them a screen pass for a third-quarter touchdown pulled back on a holding penalty.

“He’s a stud, man,” said Oilers head coach Brett Brown, whose team compiled all its points in the second quarter, scoring on four successive possessions. “We knew going into it that we had to be able to run the ball. Our goal was to establish [our control of] the line of scrimmage, and we did a pretty good job of it, and Tyler never gets tackled by the first guy.”

Young boosted his season yardage to 854 yards with his fifth career outing of 100-plus yards. He ran for 118 yards last year against Fountain Valley. Friday’s outburst came behind a commanding effort by the offensive line, led by center Sean Marella and tackle Justin Tauanuu.

“Two-fifty-five? Wow. Wow,” Young said. “Our [offensive] line was just dominating their [defensive] line and getting me to the second level, and once I go to the second level, I was able to break some tackles and get some yards. ... I knew [I’d have a good game] after the first play, that we’re going to run the ball all over them. I was excited.”

A sack killed Huntington Beach’s first drive at the edge of the red zone, but everything was soon clicking. Young ran for 51 yards on the next possession, with a three-play sequence of 11, 23 and 13 yards setting up freshman quarterback Brady Edmunds’ 4-yard scoring run. Jaxson Brown added a 2-point conversion.

The Oilers doubled their advantage a minute later. Zack James knocked the ball out of Fountain Valley quarterback Noa Banua’s hands on the next play from scrimmage, Cayden Quiroz recovered it at the Barons 10, and they were in the end zone two Young runs later. Brown ran in the conversion again.

Young had runs of 14 and 16 yards to set up the third score, in which Tauanuu, lined up eligible, took a backward pass from Edmunds for an 11-yard score. Fountain Valley, finding its first life, quickly answered with two Banua-to-Nolan Olivares passes, the second for a 47-yard touchdown, but Young’s 38-yard romp led to his second touchdown with 76 seconds to go in the first half.

Fountain Valley (3-5, 0-3), which dropped its 23rd straight Sunset League game and eighth in a row against Huntington Beach, didn’t get a first down until its fourth possession, midway through the second quarter, and gained just 2 rushing yards (with five losses on 11 carries) without running back Gabriel Regalado, who missed his second game with a concussion.

Banua, under pressure all night, threw for 215 yards and two scores, the second a 24-yard pass caught by an open Lucas Alexander. Olivares also had a 42-yard reception and finished with 104 yards on four catches, and Luke Taylor made 10 grabs for 80 yards.

The Oilers are tied with Corona del Mar (4-4 overall) and Newport Harbor (3-5) and will be underdogs next week against powerhouse Los Alamitos and in the league finale with CdM.

“[This was] a playoff game for us, what we said [to the players],” Brett Brown said. “We told them all week that if we have goals and aspirations to extend our season, this is one that we have to have. We’ve got to get to five wins, so this is a step in the right direction.”

Sunset League

Huntington Beach 30, Fountain Valley 13

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Fountain Valley 0 - 7 - 6 - 0 — 13

Huntington Beach 0 - 30 - 0 - 0 — 30

FIRST QUARTER

None.

SECOND QUARTER

HB — Edmunds 4 run (Brown run), 11:02.

HB — Young 3 run (Brown run), 10:03.

HB — Tauanuu 11 run (Armendariz kick), 5:13.

FV — Olivares 42 pass from Banua (Olivares kick), 4:23.

HB — Young 2 run (Armendariz kick), 1:16.

THIRD QUARTER

FV — Alexander 24 pass from Banua (pass failed), 0:32.

FOURTH QUARTER

None.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

FV — Olivares, 1-7.

HB — Young, 33-255, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

FV — Banua, 16-27-0, 215, 2 TDs.

NH — Edmunds, 8-14-0, 94.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

FV — Olivares, 4-104, 1 TD; Taylor, 10-80.

NH — Gray, 4-49.