Fullerton too much for the Pirates

Behind a solid ground game the Fullerton Hornets cruised to a 38-10 victory in a bounce-back game over the Orange Coast College Pirates Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.

The Hornets had no trouble running the ball, racking up 235 yards against a very stingy Pirate defense that came into the game allowing negative 17 yards on the ground per contest and a total of negative 75 in four games.

"I'm not a believer, it is time for them to start thinking positive," said Kenny Turner, freshman running back before the game.

Kenny Turner backed his words by  running for 134 yards on 16 carries and one touchdown. For Turner it was the third time in five games that he had gone for over 100 yards on the ground.

"We have some of the most underrated lineman out here," Turner said. "On our bye week we are not looking to let up, we are trying to go hard  and prepare just like we had a game this week."

Freshman running back Jereme Lagarde also found success against the Pirates (3-1) Lagarde ran for 81 yards on six carries continuing his theme; yards after first contact. Lagarde broke a couple tackles on an 84- yard run in the second quarter that got the Hornets (4-1) rolling.

The first quarter was all defense and the air was filled with punts from Pirate and Hornet punters. After forcing the Pirates to punt on their first possession of the second quarter, Dj Sophus was waiting for the punt on the Pirate 41 yard line. 

Sophus found an opening on the left side and took it the distance scoring the first points of the game. Jake Tyler added the extra point giving the Hornets 7-0 edge.

Right before the end of the first half Daryl Shine took a kickoff 85 yards that set up shop for the Hornets at the Pirate 6 yard line. Freshman fullback Pat Rojas punched it in from one- yard out giving the Hornets a 21-3 lead going into half time in the first conference game of the season.

"They know its conference now, you cannot have a letdown anytime any place," said Tim Byrnes, head coach, at halftime. "If you have one or two losses in conference you could be out of the playoffs, so they stepped up and understood, they did a good job."

A big turn-around from last week was the Hornets execution in the red zone. In a loss last week, the team was an efficient three for five but two of the conversions were field goals. This week the Hornets were 4-4 in the red zone, three of which were touchdowns and one field goal. 

"Our defense has played great all year, they played good last week," Byrnes said. "Their running back was one of the top in the state, and their job was to stop him."

Sophomore linebacker Kaulana Judd and the Hornet defense caused problems for Roy Holley and the Pirate offense all game long.

Holley came into the game averaging 178 yards a game on the ground. Holley got off to a nice start and at half time he had 74 yards. Holley was contained in the second half and for the first time this season finished with less than 100 yards rushing in a game.

"I just read the plays and did my homework throughout the week," said Judd. 

The Hornets head into a bye week with a 4-1 record overall, and a 1-0 conference record. After their off week, the Hornets will take on tough teams for three consecutive weeks; including Grossmont, Saddleback and Palomar.

"We are going to get as healthy as possible, and get ready because the next three games those guys are all undefeated too," Brynes said.

The Hornets will have their hands full the second half of the season, three of the five teams they face are currently undefeated.

"We play a good team next, Grossmont they are undefeated so we will prepare for the next for the next two weeks," said Darius Banks, freshman quarterback.