Warriors win home football playoff for first time since 2003

The season's first three goals for Fallbrook High School's football team were to win the Valley League championship, to finish the season with a winning record, and to win a playoff game.

"We've accomplished those three things," said Fallbrook head coach Kyle Williams. "We're real proud of the boys."

Fallbrook's Oct. 30 victory over Orange Glen gave the Warriors a share of the league championship, and the Warriors' Nov. 6 victory against Del Norte finalized Fallbrook's regular-season record at 6-4 and assured the Warriors of a winning record even if Fallbrook lost in the first round of the CIF playoffs.

Fallbrook did not lose in the first round; on Nov. 13, a 46-6 triumph over Hilltop gave the Warriors their first playoff win since 2009 and their first playoff home victory since 2003.

"Our boys came to play," Williams said. "We really took it to them."

Fallbrook had not won a home playoff game since a 49-6 victory over Poway in 2003. "That was on the kids' minds. They wanted to make the community proud of them," Williams said.

The Warriors' previous playoff win was a 7-6 contest at Rancho Bernardo in 2009. Last year the Warriors hosted Granite Hills in the playoffs, but the Eagles won that match.

Much of Fallbrook's offensive proficiency against Hilltop took place later in the game. "We didn't start the game out exactly the way we wanted to," Williams said.

A fumble on the first play was recovered by Hilltop at midfield. "Very early on we put ourselves in a little bit of a hole, but fortunately our defense responded," Williams said.

Fallbrook's defense forced the Lancers to punt, and the ball was downed on Fallbrook's two-yard-line. Warriors quarterback Jack Grantham handed the ball to running back Parker Martin for

Fallbrook's next offensive play. That carry gave Martin 98 of his

262 rushing yards that evening and the first of his three touchdowns. "We were going to have to run this certain play well, and the first time we ran it, it went 98 yards for a touchdown," Williams said.

Joe Bishop kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

"From there on out it was a strong defensive effort," Williams said.

During the first half Hilltop had 50 passing yards and 35 rushing yards. "Our defense really did a job on them," Williams said.

Martin's second touchdown was a four-yard run which culminated a 14-play, 81-yard drive in the second quarter. Although the Warriors were forced to punt in the final minute of the first half, the return attempt was muffed and Bryce Olivo recovered the ball for the Warriors. The next play was a 41-yard touchdown pass from Grantham to Kobe Stallings, who scored with 29 seconds remaining in the half. Bishop's kick gave Fallbrook a 21-0 halftime advantage.

In the third quarter, Grantham's pass on second down with seven yards to go was incomplete, and the third-down play started out similar to the previous play. "We made it look like a pass. We handed it off to Bryce," Williams said.

Olivo completed the draw play with a 25-yard touchdown run. The kick for the extra point was blocked, maintaining the 27-0 score.

Fallbrook then kicked off, and Austin Perona stripped the ball from the returner. Perona recovered the ball on the Hilltop 15. On the next play, Josh Henneberg ran for the 15 yards between the line of scrimmage and the end zone. The two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Martin's 262 yards were from 13 carries, but the Warriors as a team had 445 rushing yards. "At that point we could start really relying on Josh Henneberg," Williams said. "Josh Henneberg and Michael Lindsey both did a really nice job." The 33-0 lead became a 33-6 lead when the Lancers scored their only touchdown of the night. Hilltop was at midfield and had fourth down with two yards to go for a first down, and the Lancers gained 48 yards on the play. "We didn't line up properly," Williams said.

A short run gave the Lancers the touchdown. "Besides that, the entire night our defense was extremely stingy," Williams said.

Antonio Gomez blocked Hilltop's extra point attempt. The Lancers then tried an onside kick which was recovered by Stallings.

Lindsey's fourth-quarter rushing touchdown and Bishop's extra point created a 40-6 score.

Martin's third touchdown was for 48 yards and was on the final play of the game. "The reserves did a great job of blocking and Parker did a great job of running," Williams said.

A lead of at least 35 points in the fourth quarter triggers a running clock, so Fallbrook did not attempt an extra point.

"I'm very proud of the way our kids played," Williams said. "Our boys came out with incredible enthusiasm and they really played well together."