Cougars claw past the Warriors, 20-3

The Fallbrook varsity football team hosted the Escondido Cougars on Friday, October 28, for the school’s Homecoming game. The Warriors were focused to snap a four-game losing streak; however, the Cougars used a strong second half performance to pull ahead for their fourth win of the season, 20-3.

In the opening quarter, Fallbrook drew the first blood with a 37-yard field goal by Markus Lewis with ten minutes remaining in the period. The Warriors managed to consistently stop the Cougars’ offense throughout much of the first half. On the other hand, Fallbrook failed to capitalize on excellent runs from running back Vinnie Cordova. At halftime, the Warriors led, 3-0.

Escondido played with a different mentality in the second half, preventing Fallbrook from gaining any momentum. With just under three minutes left in the third quarter, the Cougars found the end zone on a fifteen-yard touchdown pass. The Warriors continued to struggle moving the chains, and Escondido added two more touchdowns to claim the victory, 20-3.

Fallbrook (1-7) was statistically even with Escondido (4-4), but the Cougars managed to capitalize on successful drives. Vinnie Cordova provided the Warriors with an effective ground game by gaining 134 yards on 23 carries. However, Escondido’s running back, Joey Estrada, found the goal line twice with 74 yards on 18 carries. Defensively, Fallbrook failed to produce any takeaways, yet the Cougars forced three Warrior turnovers.

“We came out strong in the first half, but we just fell apart in the second half,” said Jeremiah Kolone, Fallbrook’s starting offensive and defensive lineman. “We’ve got two games left, and we’ll see how many people are dedicated to play the last two games.”

Fallbrook head coach Joe Silvey added, “I think we felt like we were right there at the half, but we weren’t able to finish it in the second half. We need to change our own season because no one’s going to change it for us.”

The Warriors’ final two games will be played against the San Pasqual Eagles and the Vista Panthers.

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