PREP EXTRA / SATURDAY FOOTBALL PULLOUT : Fountain Valley Close for Much of Game, but Can’t Stop Oceanside

OCEANSIDE — Fountain Valley never looked in sync Friday night, but somehow it was able to stay close to a bigger and quicker Oceanside team for nearly three quarters.

But when Oceanside (2-1) converted on a fake punt with two minutes left in the third quarter, the demoralized Barons lost contact and never regained it, losing, 24-10, to the ninth-ranked team in San Diego County in front of about 2,000 at Oceanside High.

Fountain Valley trailed, 17-10, when Oceanside punter Joey Bombolis threw to wideout David Reyes for 23 yards on a fourth and six on Fountain Valley’s 47-yard line. Three plays later, Oceanside running Marcus Cedra bulled in from the 10 and made it 24-10 with 25 seconds left in the quarter.

Fountain Valley Coach George Berg called the trickery more of an alert play than a fake punt.

“We didn’t have enough guys on the field,” Berg said. “It’s tough to cover somebody when you don’t have enough players on the field.”

The Barons (1-2) played the rest of the game as if they were shorthanded. They recorded only one more first down and that was given to them on an Oceanside pass interference penalty on fourth down.

Fountain Valley actually led, 10-9, with 7:36 left in the third quarter when quarterback Chris Ponchak dived over from the two on an option run. But Oceanside quarterback Jeremy Westbrook (7 for 19, 193 yards, two touchdowns) struck quickly by hitting William Layne on the sideline. Layne avoided a defender and raced 54 yards for the touchdown. A halfback option pass gave Oceanside a two-point conversion and a 17-10 lead.