From 0-4 to Valley football champs? Fresno Christian did just that
The first four games of the season didn’t go how Fresno Christian would have liked. The next nine? Perfection.
The top-seeded Eagles, months removed from their 0-4 start, defeated No. 2 Trona 28-0 for their ninth straight victory while capturing the Central Section 8-man championship on their northeast Fresno campus Friday night.
Trona entered the game 10-0, having outscored its opposition 579-60.
As usual, Eagles senior Tyler Villines led the charge, completing 8 of 13 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed 18 times for 85 yards and another score.
Fresno Christian (9-4) didn’t get on the board until 2:54 remained in the first quarter when Anthony Lonardo scored on a 1-yard run. Blake Burdan added the 2-point run.
It stayed 8-0 until an Eagles flurry to close the first half. Villines connected with Brandon Brogan for a 45-yard touchdown with 1:49 remaining until halftime, and a Villines-to-Aaron LaCroix pass of 27 yards made it 21-0 at the break.
That was enough for a defense that allowed more than 12 points only once in the team’s now nine-game winning streak, and picked the perfect time to post its first shutout of the season.
Anthony Galaviz: 559-441-6042, @agalaviz_TheBee
Fresno Christian 28, Trona 0
Trona | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
Fresno Christian | 8 | 13 | 7 | 0 | — | 28 |
FC: Anthony Lonardo 1 run (Blake Burdan run)
FC: Brandon Brogan 45 pass from Tyler Villines (run failed)
FC: Aaron LaCroix 27 pass from Tyler Villines (Brandon Brogan, kick)
FC: Tyler Villines 3 run (kick good)
RUSHING: Fresno Christian, Tyler Villines 18-85, Anthony Lonardo 8-11, Blake Burdan 6-42, Brandon Brogan 1-4. Trona, Chad Ramos 20-39, Alex Ramos 7-14, Christian Zamora 3-9, Tyler Boutte 12-27, Bryce Cunningham 1-4, Kyle Harrison 1-(-2).
PASSING: Fresno Christian, Tyler Villines 8-13-0-121. Trona, Tyler Boutte 4-13-0-33.
RECEIVING: Fresno Christian, Brandon Brogan 5-75, LaCroix 1-27, Anthony Lonardo 1-8, Tyler Stotts 1-11. Trona, Alex Ramos 1-(-1), Kyle Harrison 3-34.
This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 10:32 PM with the headline "From 0-4 to Valley football champs? Fresno Christian did just that."