El Dorado running back Darius Selway brushes away Fullerton defensive back Nathan Vejar during the second quarter of Friday night’s non-league game. (PHOTOS: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
El Dorado quarterback Hudson Shaddow threw a career-high four touchdown passes to lead the Golden Hawks to a 35-17 non-league football victory over Fullerton Friday night at Fullerton.
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Shaddow threw TD passes of 19, 23, 1, and 8 yards and El Dorado behind the running of Justin Karg, Shaddow, Darius Selway, Max Hester and Dylan Pruitt, rushed for 224 yards in their season opener.
“We came out powerful and strong and we were ready to play,” said Shaddow, who completed 13 of 19 passes for 177 yards. “We worked hard in camp and this is a very good win for us against a very good team.”
El Dorado racked up 401 yards of offense in the game.
Karg, a Golden Hawks wide receiver, had a huge game tying a career-high with three touchdown receptions.
“I think we had good matchups and we came out fast,” said Karg, who had four catches for 56 yards to go along with his three TDs. He also recorded a third quarter interception.
Alexander Minero recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff that led to a 30-yard field goal by Liam Bengard, giving Fullerton a 3-0 lead. The Golden Hawks countered with a 5-play, 77-yard scoring drive that was capped off by Selway’s 3-yard touchdown run as El Dorado took a 7-3 lead midway through the opening quarter.
The Golden Hawks upped their lead to 14-3 on the first play of the second quarter on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Shaddow to Karg. Following a Fullerton punt, the duo paired up a second time on a 23-yard TD pass as the Golden Hawks increased their lead to 21-3 with 8:45 left in the half.
The Fullerton Red Hawks (1-1) then put together their best drive of the half marching 73 yards in 14 plays to cut the lead to 21-10.
Quarterback Ethan Edwards tossed a perfectly placed 13-yard touchdown pass over the middle in the end zone to a leaping Isaac Garza to trim the lead to 21-10 with 3:14 remaining in the second quarter.
However, moments later, Fullerton fumbled a El Dorado punt and the Golden Hawks recovered at the Red Hawks 29-yard line. Four plays later, Shaddow threw a 1-yard touchdown pass – his third of the game – to Mason Shackleton on the final play of the half, allowing El Dorado to take a 28-10 lead into the locker room.
Fullerton took the second half kickoff and drove to the Golden Hawks 5-yard line, but Edwards was stopped short of the goal line on a fourth- down running play. In the fourth quarter, Shaddow fired his fourth TD pass of the game, this one to Karg, with 7:19 to play.
Red Hawks quarterback Sergio Andrade tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Garza late in the final quarter to close out the scoring.
“We had a good summer camp and I’m proud of the effort our guys put out tonight,” said El Dorado Coach Zack LaMonda. “We were concerned about their Wing T offense, but I like the way our guys responded on defense. We overcame our mistakes and I think it was a good first game for us.”
Fullerton Coach Peter Karavedas said his team, which had three turnovers, committed to many mistakes.
“We committed turnovers and we had penalties and when you play a team of this caliber your margin of error shrinks,” said Karavedas. “They capitalized on our mistakes.”
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