Fuller, Turner end high school careers with 44-14 blowout
WARRENSBURG — Dalton Fuller and Elliot Turner ended their high school careers with a blowout victory after helping the Lions Club All-Star Game Blue Team to a 44-14 blowout Saturday night.
Before trading in their Cameron High School black and gold for the MidAmerica Nazarene University red, white and blue, Fuller and Turner donned the Cameron Dragon logo one last time then setting off for the next step of their careers.
“It’s exciting – the best part about wrapping up my high school career was getting prepared for college,” said Fuller, who joined fellow future MNU teammates Brandon Rayos, Andrew Harvey and Turner in the victory Saturday night. “I could not be more fortunate to have a friend like Elliot going to the same college as me and being my roommate. This was good. We roomed for the past few days and in high school we worked together.”
In an offense predicated to the option-run, Fuller and Turner’s production at receiver and tight-end seemed insignificant with the exception of Turner’s 18-yard reception - setting up a 14-yard touchdown by Lexington standout Alex Porras to put the blue team up 14-0. Although typically playing at receiver, blue team coach Rich Johnson of Knobb Noster took advantage of Turner’s 6-foot frame and had him opening holes for Porras and Rayos.
“You can’t give up. You can’t slow down with guys at this level,” Turner said. “It was fun. I always like catching the ball. Normally I’m a receiver, but they needed a tight-end and I was there to help. It was different, but I had five days to prepare for it.”
Defense seemed to be where Fuller and Turner shined Saturday night. Despite playing weak-side for most of the night, the pair combined for 10 tackles and numerous deflections in the secondary with opposing coaches often targeting Fuller because of his paltry 5-9 frame when compared to his 6-3 competition. Turner held the gold-team all-stars to just one passing touchdown, which came late in the fourth quarter when the game was all but concluded.
“It’s all a mental game to me. Size does not matter. It’s the size of your heart really,” Fuller said. “It’s whoever wants it more and I wanted it more than anybody. I can get used to wearing blue.”
Fuller and Turner will each participate in an MNU mini camp Sunday through Wednesday, then move in August 3.
“It’s nice to have played with someone, then keep playing with them because you already have that bond,” Turner said.
