Fullerton struggles in tough loss

The Fullerton Hornets suffered their first loss of the season Saturday at College of the Canyons. Three missed field goals by Hornet kickers, and the inability to score in the red zone were major factors in the Hornets 26-13 loss.

 "We have to get better in the red zone, that's the most crucial part of the field," said Kyle Essington Hornets freshman quarterback.

Fullerton started the game where they left off the previous week when they racked up over 500 yards of total offense in a dominating win over Moorpark. They drove the ball 58 yards in 12 plays, and chewed up 7:57 off the clock to make it 7-0 on a 17-yard pass from Essington to  wide receiver Thomas Clarkson.

The Hornet's defense came out and responded playing with an early lead they forced Canyons to go three and out immediately. The defense would then recover a fumble that put the Hornets on the Canyons 9-yard-line and in scoring position.

The Cougar defense held the Hornets to  a field goal after their offense put them in a dangerous position, the field goal gave the Hornets a 10-0 lead with 1:19 to go in the first quarter.

That is when the struggles in the red zone started for the Hornets. The Hornets were able to rush for over 100 yards as a team against a very stingy defense who came into the game only allowing 38 rushing yards per contest to its opposition.

"I think we did a good job when we had the opportunity to run," said Kenny Turner.

Turner was nine yards shy of surpassing the 100-yard mark on the ground. Turner averaged 4.9 yards- per-carry and rushed for 91 total yards on 18 carries. Back-up running back Jereme Lagarde had 19 yards on six carries. Lagarde had a 30-yard touchdown called back because of a hold that really hurt the Hornets.

In the teams previous contest the duo combined for over 200 yards and three touchdowns.

After falling behind 10-0 the Cougars responded in the second quarter. On the their first drive of the second quarter they marched 75 yards in 15 plays in a drive that lasted 6:32 pulling to within a field goal with 8:41 remaining in the first half.

"Our key was to stay focused," said Canyons freshman quarterback Justin Morales.

Morales was focused in key stretches of the game, especially when the Hornets brought pressure up the middle and were able to get to Morales. He didn't seem phazed; on more than one occasion Morales sat in the pocket and took a shot from Hornet defenders.

Morales completed 19-26 passes for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Though Morales took plenty of hits in the back field he was only sacked one time.

"I have faith in my line that they are going to pick up the defense, but no one is perfect," said Morales. "Some of the shots I took came on screen passes, so I was inviting them in and then just dump it out last second. It was a little bit of our game plan."

Canyons would take full momentum of the game when a roughing the kicker penalty kept a Canyons drive alive mid way through the third quarter. Two plays later Morales Connected with Dj Stephens on a 53 touchdown strike down the middle of the field giving the cougars a 20-10 advantage.