Hornets blow through the Rustlers to become undefeated conference champions

A combination of field goal kicking and quarterback efforts helped the no. 5 Hornets become the undefeated Southern California Conference Association champions for the first time under head coach Garett Campbell at Fullerton District Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 12, with a win of 26-6.

In the second quarter, with no timeouts left, the Hornets get a 16-0 lead with sophomore Will Gipson scoring the first touchdown of the night during Saturday night's Championship, Nov. 12, 2022. Photo credit: Aaliyah Skipper

Freshman kicker Jonathan Fobear stepped up when the Hornets couldn’t get to the end zone during the first half of the game.

Near the end of the first quarter, the Rustlers defense put the pressure on sophomore quarterback Josh Calvin during the final drive, making it difficult to unload passes for the intended receiver. He was able to get close enough at the beginning of the second quarter to allow Fobear to kick in a 41-yard field goal and take the lead 3-0.

Freshman Jonathan Fobear scores yet another field goal being the Hornet's top scorer within the first quarter. Jonathan made 3 consecutive field goal attempts giving Fullerton a strong 9-0 lead against Golden West during Saturday night's Championship game on Nov. 12, 2022. Photo credit: Aaliyah Skipper

Fobear hit two more field goals in the second quarter from 39 and 44 yards to give the Hornets the 9-0 lead.

“It is a championship game, and you need your field goal kickers. Johnathan came through. He did a good job” said head coach Garett Campbell.

During the fourth quarter, freshman quarterback Brandon Nunez rushed for five yards during a first and goal play to score a touchdown and take the Hornets lead to 26-0.

Fullerton’s sophomore defensive back Kasyus Kurns blocked a punt return on Golden West’s 16-yard line. The ball was recovered by the Hornets on the Rustlers seven-yard line for a loss of nine yards and an opportunity for Fullerton to score from closer distance.

During the first quarter of Saturday night's game, Golden West RB struggles to get past freshman Chris Harm as he makes a hard defensive tackle against the offense, Nov. 12, 2022. Photo credit: Aaliyah Skipper

This time, Calvin capitalized on the Rustlers misfortune and threw a three-yard toss to sophomore wide receiver Will Gipson for a touchdown, which took the Hornet lead to 16-0.

During halftime, several former Hornet football players gathered on the field and were honored as part of a homecoming celebration.

Tensions were high at the end of the game when a physical confrontation between both teams started during the postgame handshakes. Police were called to the scene for crowd control.

Overall, the Hornets finished the conference championship game with 96 passing yards, 162 rushing yards, 68 return yards, and a possession time of 31:29

Sophomore Josh Calvin calls the ball into play before handing it off to sophomore Malik Winston in the second half of Saturday night's game Nov. 12, 2022 Photo credit: Aaliyah Skipper

“We will come back and regroup on Monday morning,” said Campbell. “We should expect to hear on that day who we will be playing in the state playoffs and then go from there”

The Hornets will find out later this week who their first playoff opponent will be in the California Community College Athletic Association state playoffs.