Aiden Norman carried the ball 18 times for 221 yards and four touchdowns. NCJ photo by Rick Holtz
FULLERTON — One last home game for the seniors. One last win in front of the home crowd. One last chance to ring the Victory Bell.
Fullerton sent their seniors out on top on Friday, defeating Giltner 64-28 to improve to 4-3 on the year.
Fullerton leads Twin River 38-7 at halftime. Aiden Norman has scored three touchdowns on the ground and caught one touchdown as time expired in the second quarter. #nebpreps pic.twitter.com/r5JirIF0QT
— Rick Holtz (@Rick_Holtz) September 9, 2023
“I am just happy for the seniors,” Fullerton coach Brandon Siegel said. “Playoff seeding and stuff like that, you never know where you are going to play, home or away. The one thing for certain is we had a home game tonight. For the seniors this is the last time they are going to watch a game from this side of the fence. From here on out they are going to be on the outside looking in. And time absolutely flies.”
The Warriors scored on their first three possessions, jumping out to a 22-0 lead before the Hornets managed to pick up a first down late in the first quarter. The Hornets first three possessions ended on two punts and a fumble as the Warriors took complete control of the game.
The first quarter saw Fletcher Dubas connect with Maxton Meysenburg on a 10-yard touchdown reception on the Warriors opening drive. The offense picked up four first downs on the drive to set the tone for the rest of the game.
Fletcher Dubas would connect with Brett Bridger on a 29-yard touchdown catch and run on the first play of the Warriors' second offensive possession. Not to be outdone, Aiden Norman would find the end zone just over two minutes later, running the ball 26-yards on the Warriors' first play of their third offensive possession.
Norman carried the ball 18 times for 221 yards and four touchdowns. Fletcher Dubas completed 10-of-12 passes for 148 yards and three touchdowns. Fletcher Dubas connected with Nolan Dubas, Meysenburg and Bridger for touchdowns.
Fullerton finished with 437 yards of total offense. The Warrior defense limited the Hornets to 299 yards of offense.
Meysenburg led the defense with 9 tackles. Roe Patton and Nolan Dubas each had 7 tackles. Jerrod Land recovered 2 fumbles. Nolan Dubas recovered 1 fumble. Patton also had an interception.
With one week remaining in the regular season, the Warriors are poised to make the postseason. Heading into the final game of the season Fullerton is currently 21st in wildcard points. They are one spot ahead of High Plains.
“It’s a 32-team playoff,” Siegel said. “We are not going to count any chickens before they hatch. We know we executed (Friday night). We need to get better. High Plains is a really good team. They will be rolling, and they are at home.
“The point of the season is to get to the post season,” he said. “The point of the post season is to get to state and win a championship. That has to be the expectation otherwise what are you doing?”
Fullerton closes out the regular season on the road, traveling to Clarks on Friday to take on High Plains. The Storm (4-3) is coming off a 12-6 loss to Osceola in what turned out to be a defensive battle.