The Fountain Valley High School football team kicked the David Gutierrez era on a positive note, as it beat Valencia of Placentia 14-6 on Friday at Westminster High School.

Owen Tomko (junior), in his quarterback debut, amassed 166 passing yards and one touchdown – an 80-yard pass to Tyler Nowicki. Abdel Habibeh had 11 carries for 73 yards, while Nowicki led the team in receiving yards with 88.

The game started out with a scoreless quarter, as the Barons offense couldn’t conjure up anywhere near the Tigers’ territory. To the Barons’ credit, their defense prevented the Tigers from scoring when they had the ball in Baron territory.

In the second quarter, Valencia got into the red zone only to get stuffed by the Fountain Valley defense. A couple of plays later, Tomko hit Nowicki for the 80-yard touchdown pass to put the Barons up 7-0.

Toward the end of the quarter, the Barons had a promising drive going, as they got the ball on the Valencia 14-yard line. But a fumble with less than a minute remaining in the quarter derailed those hopes of scoring, as both teams went into halftime with Fountain Valley up 7-0.

The third quarter saw the Tigers go three and out on their opening series and to add insult to injury, their punt didn’t travel out of their own territory. The Barons had great field position, but eventually had to go for it on 4th and 8 from the 26.

That turned out to be no problem for Tomko, who hit Reyes for a 12-yard gain on the 14-yard line. Eventually, Ben Pham ran the ball in for a 2-yard rushing touchdown to put Fountain Valley up 14-0, heading into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter saw Valencia attempting to scratch and claw their way back in the game as they entered Baron territory for the first time in the second half. Facing a 4th and 1 on the Baron 35, the Tigers rolled the dice and picked up 34 yards from a quarterback keeper.

One play later, the Tigers scored off a 1-yard rushing touchdown, but the extra point was blocked, making the score 14-6. In the late stages of the game, the Barons attempted a 27-yard field goal, but the kick went wide left, giving Valencia one last chance to tie the game.

But the Tigers were unable to get the go-ahead touchdown, as the Barons celebrated Gutierrez’s first win as the Barons’ head coach. Fountain Valley (1-0) is back in action on Friday against El Dorado at Ocean View High School at 7 p.m.