Win over Patriots gives Warriors outright football league title - First-round playoff bye likely with win over Del Norte tomorrow

If Fallbrook High School’s football team is slow to celebrate the Warriors’ first outright league championship since 2000, it’s because tomorrow’s non-conference game at Del Norte has playoff seeding implications for the Warriors.

“Our focus is on Del Norte. We’re extremely excited for the kids that they won the league championship outright, but we cannot have a letdown,” said Fallbrook head coach Kyle Williams.

Fallbrook is in Division III for CIF playoff purposes, and the Warriors’ 31-6 Valley League win Oct. 31 at Orange Glen gave Fallbrook not only an unshared league title but also a share of second place with Christian in the Division III power rankings which are the primary factor used for playoff seeding. The CIF seeding and selection meeting will take place Saturday, and the top four seeds in each division receive first-round byes and a second-round home game.

Del Norte is ranked 10th in Division II. The top 12 teams in each division participate in the playoffs, so while a Fallbrook loss may deprive the Warriors of a first-round bye, a Del Norte loss may keep the Nighthawks out of the post-season. “This one’s very important for them as well,” Williams said. “We’ll definitely have our hands full, but it should be an exciting game.”

Fallbrook’s win over Orange Glen finalized the Warriors’ Valley League record at 4-0 while improving the team’s overall record to 7-2. The Patriots fell to 0-3 in league competition and 6-3 overall. “Once they got into the Valley League, the competition became much tougher than they were used to playing,” Williams said of Orange Glen’s 6-0 pre-league record. “That’s not to take away from what they did for the first six games. They did a great job of turning their program around.”

Fallbrook’s 31 points were the most scored against Orange Glen this season. “We knew it was important for us to score early,” Williams said.

Orange Glen opened the game by attempting an onside kick, but Fallbrook’s Andy Iniesta recovered the ball at the Fallbrook 47. The Warriors needed six plays to cover the 53 yards between the original line of scrimmage and the end zone with Roberto Ramirez running for the final 21-yard gain which was the first of his three touchdowns that night. Parker Roberson, who made all four of his extra point kick attempts, gave Fallbrook a 7-0 lead.

The Warrior defense forced Orange Glen to punt, and although Fallbrook began possession on the Warrior 18 an eight-play drive gained the 82 yards necessary for a touchdown. Ramirez’s 56-yard touchdown run and the extra point gave Fallbrook a 14-0 lead with 1:14 remaining in the first quarter.

Ramirez carried the ball 14 times during the game and gained 200 yards on the ground. On the second-quarter play immediately after Fallbrook stopped Orange Glen on fourth down, Ramirez ran 60 yards for his third touchdown of the night. The score remained 21-0 through the end of the first half.

“Our defense was playing extremely well the entire night,” Williams said.

Orange Glen’s success had been the result of the Patriots’ ability to control the ball and control the clock, but the Fallbrook lead created a disadvantage for the Patriots to slow down the game. In the third quarter, Orange Glen was once again forced to punt. Sierra Arteaga returned the ball 31 yards to the Orange Glen 39. Ten plays later Bryce Olivo ended the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. The third quarter ended with a 28-0 Fallbrook lead.

In the fourth period, Orange Glen intercepted a halfback pass at the Fallbrook 40 and scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive, although the two-point conversion attempt failed. James Nicholas returned the kickoff to the Orange Glen 43. The Warriors gained 31 yards on the next five plays before Roberson’s first field goal attempt of the season resulted in a 28-yard field goal and the 31-6 score.

The field goal was the first for Roberson during his two years on the Fallbrook varsity. “We wanted to get Parker an opportunity to kick that field goal,” Williams said.

Fallbrook had one takeaway; Nicholas intercepted a “Hail Mary” pass at the end of the first half. “We also had multiple fourth-down stops on defense including a goal-line stand,” Williams said.

Williams knew that Fallbrook would have few takeaway opportunities. “They also do a good job of protecting the ball, so it was more important for us to get good defensive stops,” he said.

Fallbrook stopped Orange Glen on two of the Patriots’ three fourth-down attempts. On several other occasions, Fallbrook’s defense created fourth down with five or more yards to go for a first down, forcing the Patriots to punt.

Fallbrook punted once during the game. “Our offense was very efficient. We had a number of big plays, especially in the first half,” Williams said.

The Warriors had only one offensive holding penalty, which did not negate a long run as had been the case in Fallbrook’s previous two games against Valley Center and San Pasqual. “We did a better job on offense,” Williams said. “It was a fairly mistake-free game. We had a couple of offsides penalties on defense.”

In Fallbrook’s 21-7 win Oct. 17 at Valley Center, the Jaguars had a 7-0 lead until Fallbrook tied the game with 26 seconds left in the first half. The Warriors’ 27-19 home win Oct. 24 against San Pasqual involved overcoming a 19-7 Golden Eagles lead with 8:08 remaining. “It was nice to get on top of these guys early to play with the lead,” Williams said of the game against Orange Glen. “We were very efficient on both sides of the ball.”

The experience of coming from behind to win may benefit the Warriors in the post-season. “The Division III playoffs are extremely competitive this year. Anyone can win it,” Williams said.

Fallbrook last reached the CIF championship game in 2003, when the Warriors shared the Avocado League title. The 2000 season was the only one in which Fallbrook won both the CIF championship and a league title; a 4-0 record that year gave the Warriors the outright Avocado League championship. Fallbrook won the outright Palomar League championship in 1983 and unshared Southern League titles in 1941, 1947, and 1953. The Warriors shared the 1960 DeAnza League championship and the 1961 Palomar League title.

“We’re really excited for the kids, for the school, for the town of Fallbrook,” Williams said.

“It’s a good group of kids, and they wanted nothing more than to be able to hang a banner in the gym,” Williams said. “They get to call themselves champions at something for the rest of their lives.”