Thursday night’s game was a dog fight that came down to the last minute. Both teams were very talented and physical as there would be big plays all game. The Olympians of San Diego Mesa had a headstart as wide receiver Jalil Tucker would take a short pass from quarterback Jax Leatherwood 16 yards into the endzone on their first drive. The scoreboard would mark 7-0 after a field goal made by Robert Petrich. Fullerton’s Charles Viorel fought back with determination, nailing a 45 yard field goal, narrowing the score to 7-3.
Both teams would find their way to their locker rooms for halftime as the crowd’s attention was drawn to the Homecoming event. Vicky Calhoun gave a presentation of the cheer squad and presented State Sen. Josh Newman with an award in gratitude for his donation.
The Homecoming court winners were introduced shortly after. The homecoming king was crowned to David Maurace and homecoming queen was won by Jessica Chelsea.
“I didn’t really have the American high school experience, so this was kind of special to me. This was my first football game I attended, first homecoming and I won homecoming king. It’s just very special to me,” said first-year student David Maurace.
Maurace has been living in the U.S. and attending Fullerton College for three months, hailing from Sri Lanka.
Chelsea expressed her excitement after being named homecoming queen. Like Maurace, she hails from another country, calling Indonesia her home.
“Honestly I didn’t expect it since it was my first homecoming and we didn’t have this back in my home country. I am just very thankful Fullerton College gave me this opportunity.” said Chelsea.
After the first half, the Hornet’s defense swarmed the Olympians all night. Leatherwood faced pressure throughout the game to which Fullerton took advantage of to make key plays. Sophomore linebacker Jeremy Naborne scored a 40 yard-fumble recovery for a touchdown, putting Fullerton up 10-7. Freshman defensive back Fred Adams Jr was a bright spot for the Hornets as well, having two interceptions and a couple of long returns on the missed field goals by the Olympians.
“Fred came in and wanted to play receiver, we got him kind of late in August but we saw the type of talent he had and we needed some help at corner,” said Coach Phil Austin. “We wanted to play him this year because he’s going to develop a lot faster from playing on the field.”
San Diego Mesa would cap off a 15 play drive early in the fourth quarter after a 1 yard rush by Leatherwood to put the Olympians back up 13-10, Petrich’s kick was missed. In a big moment with the game on the line, Charles Viorel was tasked to kick a 50-yard field goal.
The stadium started to get loud with tons of excitement but the players knew that Viorel needed to focus. The Hornet players on the sideline started signaling towards the crowd to be quiet so Viorel could concentrate. In a moment of suspense, Viorel’s kick was squeezed right in and the energy of the stadium erupted as the score was now tied at 13 a piece.
Heartbreak however, would soon take over the place with San Diego Mesa stringing together a long drive in the last couple of minutes and Conor Lawlor cashing in a 19-yard strike from Leatherwood putting the Olympians up 20-13 with 24 seconds left on the clock. Fullerton tried to make something happen with a few laterals on the last play but would ultimately be stopped.
“We just got to quit shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties and punt team disasters causing us to lose field positioning. The defense played hard. I think they just got a little tired at the end,” said Austin. “Their coach called a great game on offense, throwing the ball quick against our blitz. They did a good job over there.”
Austin is pleased with the progress this young team is making, noting they have improved significantly since the start of the season.
“We just got to continue to build, we’ve improved a lot since the beginning of the season. We still have our moments where we play like freshmen but we just gotta keep fighting. I love this team and they love each other,” said Austin.
Look for the Hornets to bounce back next week when they hit the road and take on Palomar College on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024.
A previous version of this article misidentified Co-Head Coach Phil Austin in a photo caption.