Football Game Preview: Orange Panthers vs. Fountain Valley Barons

For the first time this season, Orange will have a chance to prove themselves in a conference matchup. After each having a week off, they and the Fountain Valley Barons will shake off the cobwebs and hit the field against one another at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Neither of those teams managed to put together many points in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.

Orange made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Redondo Union, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Panthers fell just short of the Sea Hawks by a score of 14-12 last Friday. The matchup marked the Panthers' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Despite the defeat, Orange saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Star Thomas rushed for 66 yards and one score, and also threw for 225 yards and one TD while completing 75.8% of his passes.

Even if they lost, Orange's defense still kept up the pressure with three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Nathan Marquez, Joshua Flores, and Anthony Randle, who each picked up one sack apiece.

Meanwhile, Fountain Valley was not able to break out of their rough patch last Friday as the team picked up their fourth straight loss. They were outmatched by Edison and fell 34-7. While losing is never fun, the Barons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 428th, while the Chargers are ranked 69th).

Fountain Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 1-4. As for Orange, their loss dropped their record down to 3-2.

Orange was able to grind out a solid victory over Fountain Valley in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, winning 21-14. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Barons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.