Warriors earn home football playoff berth, winning record

Fallbrook High School's football team will continue its season tomorrow at home against Hilltop.

The CIF playoff selection and seeding meeting Nov. 7 included the designation of Fallbrook as the seventh seed in the Division III playoffs. The Warriors will be seeking their first post-season victory since 2009.

"We're still looking for the first playoff win," said Fallbrook head football coach Kyle Williams. "We can't talk about winning a CIF championship until we win a playoff game."

Fallbrook ended the regular season Nov. 6 with a 21-6 home victory over Del Norte.

"Del Norte came out fired up," Williams said. "Our guys were able to match their intensity the first half and out execute them the second half."

In the first quarter, Taylor Padilla intercepted a Nighthawks pass and returned the ball to the Del Norte 13. Fallbrook gained a first down before Parker Martin ran the ball the final two yards into the end zone and Joe Bishop kicked the extra point.

Del Norte scored in the second quarter. The Nighthawks put together a drive of approximately 60 yards with a one-yard run for the touchdown following a 20-yard pass completion. "We were able to block the extra point," Williams said.

Austin Perona blocked the kick to keep the score at 7-6. Fallbrook's placekicking defense special teams unit also maintained that score at the end of the first half when the Nighthawks tried a field goal from a short distance. "Our pressure forced the kicker to rush his attempt, and he missed it wide left," Williams said.

The game's first two quarters were reviewed during the halftime break. "We knew we had to make some adjustments," Williams said.

Many of those adjustments were on offense. "They did a good job of using our motion against us," Williams said.

A handful of adjustments were made by Fallbrook's defensive players, and the Nighthawks were kept out of the end zone for the remainder of the game.

Fallbrook's special teams units not only twice kept Del Norte from kicking points in the first half but also set up a Warriors touchdown in the third quarter. Padilla's punt went over the head of the Del Norte receiver who tried to catch the ball but was unable to hold onto it. Fallbrook recovered the fumble at the Del Norte 20.

"We knew our best play and we ran it three times in a row," Williams said.

Those three plays were runs by Martin. The third of those was a three-yard touchdown which was followed by Bishop's extra point, and the Warriors entered the fourth quarter with a 14-6 lead.

In the fourth period, Fallbrook's defense held the Nighthawks deep in their own territory and forced a punt. The Warriors began their drive at midfield. Fallbrook obtained one first down, and on the next series of downs the Nighthawks limited the Warriors to five yards on the first three plays to give Fallbrook fourth down with five yards to go at the Del Norte 30.

"We decided we were going to go for it," Williams said.

What was also decided was that quarterback Jack Grantham would not be throwing a pass. Grantham handed off to James Nicholas, who threw a halfback pass. The ball was caught by Kobe Stallings, who gained the necessary 30 yards for a touchdown. Bishop's kick gave Fallbrook a 21-6 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

"We just continued playing great defense the rest of the way," Williams said.

The Warrior offense didn't stagnate but instead focused on ball control and running down the clock to minimize the Nighthawks' subsequent possession opportunities. "Their offense had the ability to score quickly," Williams said.

Whatever fourth-quarter opportunities the Del Norte offense had were thwarted by Fallbrook's defense. "Our defense was so dialed in," Williams said. "As long as we continued to do what we did on defense we'd be just fine."

The victory achieved two goals for the Warriors: they defeated the Nighthawks for the first time ever and Williams' players guaranteed themselves a winning record.

Del Norte has played varsity football since 2010. The Nighthawks and Warriors first met in 2012, when Del Norte obtained a 24-21 home victory. The 2013 game at Fallbrook was a 35-34 Del Norte triumph. Fallbrook and Del Norte also closed out the 2014 regular season with a non-league game against each other; that game at Del Norte ended as a 29-21 Nighthawks win.

Fallbrook has now defeated every other North County Conference football team with the exception of Mission Hills, which began football in 2004 and has won all six matches against the Warriors, and Westview, which has played football since 2003 but did not face Fallbrook until this season's Aug. 28 opener which ended as a 28-7 Wolverines victory.

Fallbrook's four wins against Rancho Bernardo include triumphs in the 2002 and 2009 CIF playoffs. The 2009 game at Rancho Bernardo, a 7-6 Fallbrook victory, is currently the Warriors' most recent post-season win. A win over Hilltop would be Fallbrook's first home victory in the playoffs since a 49-6 triumph over Poway in 2003.

The win over Del Norte provided Fallbrook with a final 6-4 regular-season record. The Valley League has five football teams, so Fallbrook had the non-league game Nov. 6 and concluded its league season with an Oct. 30 victory which finalized the Warriors' league record at 3-1.

Two other Valley League teams took 2-1 records into their Nov. 6 league games. San Pasqual played at Escondido and Valley Center hosted Orange Glen. Valley Center defeated Orange Glen, which finished winless in league play but with a 4-6 regular-season overall record, by a 45-0 score. The game between San Pasqual and Escondido went into overtime before a San Pasqual field goal gave the Golden Eagles a 10-7 victory. During league competition San Pasqual defeated Valley Center; Valley Center prevailed over Fallbrook; and Fallbrook shut out San Pasqual, so all three teams earned tri-champion status.

A coin flip determined the designated league champion, who is guaranteed a CIF playoff home game. San Pasqual, which is in Division II for playoff purposes, won that coin toss for designated league champion status which likely placed the 4-6 Golden Eagles into the playoffs. San Pasqual was seeded 12th in Division II but, because league champions automatically have a home game, the Golden Eagles will host fifth-seeded Westview tomorrow.

All five Valley League teams were given berths in the CIF playoffs. Orange Glen was seeded 12th in the Division IV playoffs. Valley Center was the Division III third seed, which gives the Jaguars a first-round bye tomorrow, while Escondido's 11th seed sends the Cougars to Morse for tomorrow's playoff game. Del Norte, which is in the Avocado East League, is also in Division III for playoff purposes and was seeded 12th, so the Nighthawks will travel to Imperial High School tomorrow.

The winner of the Fallbrook-Hilltop game will spend Nov. 20 at Mission Bay High School for a quarterfinal playoff game against the second-seeded Buccaneers.