Instant Analysis: OLu vs. Fountain Valley (pregame)

We got a little taste of the playoffs with five games on Thursday night, but tonight it is officially on.

Todd Harmonson, the boss of all bosses at OCVarsity, saw in his infinite wisdom to put the A-Team back together to provide exclusive coverage from the OLu-Fountain Valley Pac-5 showdown at Orange Coast College.

That’s right, “Action” Dan Albano and Carlos Arias are on the scene. Albano’s story will appear in tomorrow’s Register and I will be providing “Instant Analysis” for the OCVarsity blog. Of course, Danny Boy will be feeding me stats all night.

Like Col. John “Hannibal” Smith of the A-Team from the 1980s used to say: “I love it when a plan comes together.” You remember the A-Team? Four Vietnam vets, framed for a crime they did not commit, help the innocent while on the run from the military.

Hannibal was always great at formulating a plan and nobody was better at executing it than Sgt. Bosco “B.A.” Baracus, Capt. H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock and Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck.

Like B.A. Baracus, who had a fear of flying and needed to be knocked out and thrown on a plane against his will, Dan had to knock me out an carry my up the stairs of the stadium because of my fear of climbing stairs.

But I just came around and I’m ready for OLu vs. Fountain Valley. Last week, I watched OLu coach Jim Kunau pull out all the stops and then some to beat Mater Dei in their Trinity League finale. What a game that was. Kunau is a modern day Hannibal Smith.

But Fountain Valley also has those scrappy qualities the A-Team possessed. The Barons have risen to many challenges this season and pulled off some great wins.

This game is ready to start in about 15 minutes, Let’s do this A-Team style.

Instant Analysis: OLu 7, Fountain Valley 0 (after one quarter)

Fountain Valley had very minimal success on its first possession.

Fountain Valley QB Dominic Ragland got out of the grasp of OLu DL Kapono Asuega and made a 12-yard pass to Artie O’Keefe to pick up a first down. The Barons will need more plays like that from Ragland to have a shot tonight.

The Barons got caught in a third-and-long situation and Ragland got stopped short of the first down by OLu’s Gabe Lemon, forcing the Barons to punt.

OLu moved into Barons territory quickly. The Lancers were facing a third-and-6 and Exavier Edwards came through with a 9-yard gain to the Barons 21.

After an offsides penalty, Casey Smith and Matt McWilliams sacked Bobby Wheatley for a 16 yard loss. OLu’s Damani Wilson got most of that back with a run to the 15-yard line. OLu went for it on fourth-and-1 and Garrett Gilliliand hurdled the pile to pick up the first down at the 10-yard line.

The Lancers got whistled for illegal procedure on second down and got knocked back to the 13-yard line.

On third-and-13, Bobby Wheatley found Exavier Edwards in the flat. Edwards stiff armed one defender, stiffed armed another and got into the end zone.

That capped a 12-play, 61-yard scoring drive that took nearly 7 minutes off the clock.

OLu, 7, Fountain Valley 0 with 48 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Instant Analysis: OLu 7, Fountain Valley 0 (halftime)

Fountain Valley’s second possession ended with a three-and-out. Kyle Middlebrooks has two carries for 5 yards. Those are his only two touches of the game so far.

OLu will take over at midfield for its second possession. OLu was very effecient and methodical on its first drive and it converted on a fourth-down try.

The Lancers are mixing their committee of RBs with a lot of short passes. The Barons defense has made OLu earn every yard, but OLu is still getting positive yardage and moving the chains.

OLu had moved to the Barons’ 37, but a personal foul against the Lancers brought up a second-and-27 from their own 46. FV DE Awwad Yasin got a lot of pressure on OLu QB Bobby Wheatley on third-and-long to force the incompletion and OLu was forced to punt.

Fountain Valley started its third possession at its own 18. OLu’s defense has a handle on the Barons so far. Garrett Gilliland sacked FV QB Dominic Ragland for a six-yard loss to force another punt.

Fountain Valley has had three possessions and has been forced to punt three times. The Barons have one first down.

OLu started its third possession at its own 46. OLu picked up its fourth penalty on first down. They have four penalties for 35 yards. Penalties have been a problem for OLu and FV DEs Casey Smith and Awwad Yasin are becoming a problem too. The Barons defense holds strong for a three-and-out.

FV starts its fourth possession at its own 15. Kyle Middlebrooks fumbled on first down and OLu takes over at the Barons ‘18. Neither Dan Albano or myself were able to see who recovered for OLu.

OLu went for a halfback-option pass, but FV’s Casey Smith sniffed it out and took Kyle Dravis down for an 8-yard loss. Bobby Wheatley erased that loss with a 19-yard completion to Scotty Williams for a first-and-goal inside the 10.

The Lancers faced a third-and-goal at the 8-yard line with 17 seconds left in the half, Bobby Wheatley lofted a 8-yard TD pass to Brandon Turner. But Turner got called for offensive pass interference, the TD got erased and the Lancers got moved back to the 23-yard line.

With 11 seconds left on the clock, OLu was forced to go for a FG attempt. Parker Flynn lined up for a 40-yard attempt, but Barons coach John Shipp proceeded to use all three of his timeouts to try and ice Flynn. The OLu fans didn’t like Shipp’s tactics, but the Barons faithful loved it.

When Flynn finally got his shot at the 40-yard attempt it was low and never had a chance.

The Barons defense and OLu penalties were the difference in the first half. FV has to find some offense in the second half. The Barons “D” is giving them a shot. But one first down and 30 yards of total offense is not going to get it done. Kyle Middlebrooks has four carries for 8 yards and one lost fumble.

OLu was unable to take advantage of great field position because of six penalties for 50 yards and of course the FV defense.

Instant Analysis: OLu 14, Fountain Valley 0 (after three quarters)

OLu had the ball to start the second half, and proceeded to gobble up 8 minutes and 23 seconds off the clock with a 16-play, 80-yard scoring drive.

Fountain Valley’s defense came up with some big hits by Casey Smith and Awwad Yasin, but OLu kept coming up with clutch plays to keep the chains moving.

OLu kept it on the ground for the bulk of the drive, but OLu QB Bobby Wheatley completed three passes to his TE Shane Sullivan for 42 yards along the drive. All three helped the Lancers convert first downs. The biggest one came when OLu was facing third-and-8 at FV’s 30. Sullivan caught a 14-yard pass for a first down.

Exavier Edwards’ 12-yard run got the Lancers a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Wheatley scored on a 1-yard keeper on second down to give the Lancers a 14-0 lead with 3:37 left in the third.

That was the kind of back-breaking drive that can mess with a team’s head.

Fountain Valley was forced to go for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 29 and, fortunately, for the Barons the Lancers jumped offsides.

Instant Analysis: OLu 28, Fountain Valley 0 (Final)

OLu had the ball for nearly 9 minutes of the third quarter.

FV finally got its hands on the ball and the Barons backs were up against the wall. They converted one fourth-down attempt.

The Barons faced a fourth-and-2 at their own 44 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Dominic Ragland was scrambling for his life and got picked off at midfield by Davonte Anderson.

OLu was unable to pick up a first down and was forced to punt.

The Barons went three-and-out, but OLu’s Scotty Williams returned the punt 25 yards to FV’s 26-yard line. An 18-yard pass to Williams got it to the 5-yard line.

On second-and-goal from the 2, fullback Kent Fleager pounded it into the end zone and OLu had a 21-0 lead.

That probably sealed OLu’s trip to the quarterfinals where it will play the Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks-Compton winner. I’m betting OLu will be playing Notre Dame.

FV had one first down, which came via penalty, on two possessions in the second half. FV’s third resulted in another three-and-out.

OLu’s Damani Wilson scored on a 2-yard TD run with 1:59 left as OLu increased its lead to 28-0.

What an impressive performance by OLu defense to completely take FV’s star RB Kyle Middlebrooks out of the game. This was the the second shutout for the Lancers and fourth time they held a team to 7 points or less. OLu’s offense came through with some back-breaking drives that gobbled up the clock.

It was a very complete effort by OLu.

Final Instant Analysis: OLu 28, Fountain Valley 0

I was thoroughly impressed by the defensive effort by both OLu and Fountain Valley tonight.

The Barons defense found themselves defending bad field position all game. It was just too much to have to keep coming up with stops. OLu has too many skilled players on offense to keep them out of the end zone.

And OLu was able to put together methodical drives that consumed the clock.

OLu’s defense was bigger, stronger and faster than the Barons offense. The Lancers keyed on Kyle Middlebrooks early and the speedy back was never able to develop a rhythm. Middlebrooks had 24 yards on nine carries for the game.

OLu didn’t stack the line to stop Middlebrooks. They played FV straight up in their regular 3-4 defense.

With the Barons unable to develop a ground game, they were forced into passing situations and the Lancers teed off on them.

Another factor was OLu’s domination of the time of possession. How could FV develop any rhythm when the Barons offense was rarely on the field?

This wasn’t the first time the Lancers had faced a dangerous running back this season. Go back to Week 3 when the Lancers shut out Tustin in a 10-0 victory.

OLu held Tustin, which regulary gets 300-400 rushing yards per game, to 121 rushing yards. The Lancers limited Anthony Wilkerson to 46 yards.

OLu will face an even bigger challenge when it faces Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks next week in the quarterfinals. OLu will have to find a way to slow down junior QB Ryan Kasdorf. This kid has thrown for over 3,000 yards and 30 TDs and he has rushed for over 600 yards.

The Pac-5 is like one big, crazy minefield. You get through one and there are even more boobie traps and pitfalls awaiting in the next round.

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