Warriors look to start second half of season with Homecoming victory

Homecoming games are always special, and this year's game on Friday, Sept. 30 looms very large for Fallbrook High School's varsity football team, which hopes the date will mark the turning point of the season.

Fallbrook High, 0-5, hosts Hoover High, 0-4, in a game that will kickoff at 7 p.m. at Fallbrook Stadium. The contest begins the second half of Fallbrook's 10-game schedule.

"The first half doesn't matter," said Fallbrook coach Bob Burt. "It's behind us and we can't do anything about it. All we can do is do what we can about what's in front of us."

The Warriors can finish as a .500 club and contend for a league title if they run the table the rest of the way.

"We still have a chance," said Burt. "Our league is pretty balanced. I think we can be competitive with everybody we play the rest of this season and can turn it around. It's a situation where kids have got to continue to believe in themselves and what we're trying to do, and hopefully they'll get it done."

Burt said a victory Friday could get the ball rolling.

"Once you start to win and get a taste of that, you get a little momentum going," said Burt.

Although winless thus far, the Warriors have been competitive in every game with the exception of the Sept. 17 road contest against Christian (48-7). Fallbrook lost tough games at home to Westview (14-0) and Del Norte (20-13) and battled well in road losses to Torrey Pines (20-0) and San Pasqual (24-10).

"I think if you look at our games, I would say three of the five could have gone our way with just a little bit of different situations in a game," said Burt. "We were soundly beaten by Christian, but the other four games we were there. We were tied, we were ahead, and we just didn't finish and didn't close it out."

Fallbrook led 7-3 at halftime in its most recent game, an away contest at San Pasqual on Sept. 23. Fullback Michael Lindsey rambled 34 yards for a touchdown on a trap play in the first quarter for the Warriors and Joe Bishop added the extra point.

Bishop booted a 24-yard field goal in the third quarter to tie the game at 10-10 before San Pasqual completed the game's scoring with a pair of rushing touchdowns.

"It was a good football game," said Burt. "We played solid, solid defense all night long. Again, our kids played with great effort, we just didn't get it done."

The 10 points was the second highest total of the season for Fallbrook, which has averaged just six points a game.

"I think we need to continue to improve on offense and continue to be physical and play good defense, like we have overall," said Burt. "Don't get me wrong, we've made some mistakes defensively, but overall, we've played good defense."

Burt said his team escaped the first half of the season without any major injuries.

"We've had some guys banged up, but nothing serious," said Burt. "Physically, I think we're OK."

Looking ahead to the second half of the season, Burt said succinctly, "We have to improve and learn to finish. I think we can do that."