Foothill 30 - Eagles 26
MISSION VIEJO, CA., September 19, 2008 – Football is a momentum sport. Yet somehow, someway, Foothill was able to seize it by the collar and shake the life out of Santa Margarita.
Foothill seized the momentum and subsequently a 30-26 nonleague victory over Santa Margarita on Friday at Saddleback College.
It appeared Foothill (2-1) had no chance of winning in the opening moments of the third quarter. Santa Margarita (1-2) had scored with 23 seconds left in the first half on Ryan World's 7-yard run, and A.J. Cruz returned a punt of 51 yards for a touchdown 73 seconds into the third quarter.
Then Ben Douglas was tackled in the end zone by Emmett O'Brien for a safety. That made it 26-14, and Foothill looked like it was done.
It wasn't.
After a series of botched snaps by Santa Margarita (1-2) gave Foothill possession at the Eagles 43.
But Foothill scored on a 20-yard pass from Zach Griffith to Ben Douglas. That cut the deficit to 26-21, and on its next series, Foothill drove 79 yards in 16 plays and scored on Robert Daniel's 6-yard run to make it 27-26 with 11:03 to play.
Santa Margarita never got past its own 34 the rest of the game, and Dane Mitten locked up the victory with 37-yard field goal with 1:08 remaining.
| Foothill | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 30 |
| Santa Margarita | 3 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 26 |
FH – Douglas 20 pass from Griffith (Mitten kick)
SM – Maniaci 30 FG
SM – Sweet 12 pass from World (Maniaci kick)
FH – Griffith 8 run (Mitten kick)
SM – World 8 run (Maniaci kick)
SM – Cruz 51 punt return (Maniaci kick)
FH – Douglas 20 pass from Griffith (Mitten kick)
SM – Team safety – Douglas tackled in end zone
FH – Daniel 6 run (Griffith pass failed)
FH – Mitten 37 FG
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: FH - Griffith 11–69, Daniel 27–116; SM - World 7–25, White 4–42
Passing: FH - Griffith 11–19–1–103; SM - World 11–16–1–104
Receiving: FH - Douglas 4–59, Dupre 3–13; SM - Sweet 3–39, Escobar 5–45
By Martin Henderson
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Orange County Register - Sports 1
