HORNETS ROLL PAST EAST LA TO OPEN THE CENTRAL CONFERENCE

The FC football team opened SCFA Central Conference play in dominant fashion on Saturday night defeating East Los Angeles College 55-21 on the road.

The win bumps the Hornets Fullerton to 3-1 on the season and 1-0 in the SCFA Central Conference. ELAC falls to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the Central.

After tonight's victory, the Hornets and Huskies have now faced one other on the gridiron a grand total of 3 times with Fullerton leading the overall series 3-0. The first time the two teams played each other was in 2023, a 51-0 Hornet win under Head Coach Garrett Campbell.

Hornet quarterback Chris Lundsberg wasted no time getting Fullerton on the board connecting with JT Weir for a 75-yard touchdown for the game's opening drive. Though the extra point was missed the score helped set the tone for Fullerton's quick-strike offense.

After East LA tied the game on a 17-yard touchdown pass, Fullerton answered with a one-yard plunge from Graelyn Kelly to reclaim the lead. The Hornets then added another rushing score early in the second quarter as QB Jack Schierholz capped a 60-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.

Lundsberg and Luke Indorf linked up for an 18-yard touchdown later in the quarter, and Schierholz added a 12-yard scoring run to give Fullerton a commanding 27-7 halftime advantage.

Fullerton extended its lead in the third quarter behind kicker Nicholas Sandoval's 28-yard field goal.  Schierholz struck again using his arm this time with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Logan Lester. Moments later, Marc Essley II electrified the crowd with a 59-yard punt return for a touchdown.

By the time the fourth quarter began, the Hornets were in full control with a 44-7 advantage.

The Huskies briefly narrowed the margin with a fumble return for a touchdown, but Fullerton responded quickly with a one-yard scoring run from Mike Taffe. ELAC added a late touchdown through the air, but the Hornet's early dominance proved to be too much to come back from.

FC's Chris Lundsberg led the way in the air completing 11 of 19 passes for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jack Schierholz added a touchdown pass of his own and rushed for 2 scores. In fact, he paced the ground attack with 66 yards on 8 carries. Dominic Ancich totaled 57 yards and Taffe added 34 yards with a 1 TD). JT Weir was the big-play threat with 3 catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. Taffe, Indorf, and Lester also hauled in key receptions with touchdowns.

Defensively, EJ Robinson led with 6 tackles with Dez Polamalu adding with a sack and a forced fumble. Eric Rory II, Ethan Charpentier, Mahki Connor, and Miles Tyree each added tackles for loss.

Up Next: The Hornets (3-1 overall, 1-0 Conference) welcomes SCFA Central rival Orange Coast College to Sherbeck Field on Saturday, September 27^th. Kickoff will be at high noon. Come out and support your Hornets for this one!

*Photo by Kaysea Luna