Behind the strong play of freshman quarterback Trey Tinsley down the stretch, Fullerton College defeated Mt. SAC in the home opener Saturday at Shappell Stadium.
In just his second game as a Hornet, Tinsley showed everyone why coach Tim Byrnes was so high on him coming out of El Toro High School connecting on two picture perfect deep balls in overtime to wide receiver Ryan Markush from the 25-yard-line into the back of the end zone to for the 36-30 victory.
“I just tossed it up, put a lot of air on it and just let my guy go get it,” said Tinsley. “He [Markush] is an unbelievable athlete and he deserves the credit.”
Tinsley and the Hornets started off the game slowly, not scoring until the second quarter.
“Once we got that first one under our belt we were ready to roll,” said Tinsley.
Once that seal was broken, Tinsley and the Hornets passing game opened up and things began to click.
Despite trailing from the second quarter through midway in the fourth quarter, the Mounties refused to roll over. Quarterback Anfernee Bruton’s scrambling and deep play ability finally brought the game even and forced overtime.
Two of the top CCCAA ranked football teams coming into the season, #5 Fullerton College and #1 Mt. SAC entered week two trying to erase the disappointment of their week one upsets.
It is rare that in the second week of the season, two top ranked teams are fighting for their playoff lives. After a lackluster week one that saw the Hornets and Mounties lose in upsets, that’s exactly what both teams were up against today. A second loss could potentially spell the end of their State Championship hopes.
“Anytime you beat that football team right there you are taking huge strides, thats the best football team in California year in, year out,” said Byrnes.
The first score came with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter, when Bruton scrambled 8 yards for the touchdown. The score was setup by a 58-yard fade down the visitor sideline from Bruton to Ryan Reed.
Fullerton’s offense started showing signs of life in the second quarter. Tinsley aired it out over the middle to Cameron Oliver for a 65-yd touchdown, their first of the season.
Three minutes later the Hornets followed that up with a little trickery. Tinsley tossed a lateral pass to Jordan Wiley split wide, then Wiley threw it over the top of the defense to a streaking Coray Keel for the 66-yard touchdown.
The Hornets got a nice contribution from running back Pop Thomas, rushing for 95 yards, most of which came in the second half.
Tinsley finished with 305 yards and 3 touchdowns. Markush caught 7 passes for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Leading the Mounties, Bruton passed for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns, while rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown.
The Hornets also got solid defensive efforts from linebackers Thomas Cletcher who finished with 15 total tackles and a sack, and Jakob McCarthy who finished with 8 total tackles and a pair of sacks.
“[Cletcher] was flying all over the field today, I mean he would come out of nowhere and make tackles all game long,” said Byrnes.
The Hornets (1-1) will look to continue the momentum when they hit the road Saturday to take on #10 Cerritos College (2-0) at 7 p.m.
