TUSTIN – Foothill might not be as good as it needs to be to contend for the Crestview League championship.
But the Knights have a few weeks to go before league play begins, and they took a step in the right direction Thursday with a 37-21 nonleague win over Brea Olinda at Tustin High.
Foothill improved to 2-2. Brea is 1-3.
The Knights’ defense scored two touchdowns and held Brea running back Billy Hanley to 15 yards on 11 carries. Hanley had been averaging 148 rushing yards a game. The Knights’ defensive line of Jack Campbell, Chris Yaghi and Logan Wetherholt had a dominating game.
“Our defense was outstanding,” Foothill coach Doug Case said. “We’ve got a very good defensive line. They controlled the line of scrimmage for us.”
Foothill did make errors. The Knights committed a couple of turnovers, one an interception returned for a Brea touchdown, and drives stalled earlier than Case would have preferred. It was junior Preston Moebius’ first start at quarterback, so Case can be patient with the first league game not until Oct. 23.
“We’re still trying to work things out offensively,” he said. “But I’m proud of what the offense did, and the special teams played well.
“It was a well-rounded win.”
Moebius threw a touchdown pass and rushed for 62 yards. Jared Copeland rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns for the Knights. Chad McCune and Yaghi scored the defensive touchdowns.
Foothill put together a 14-play, 63-yard touchdown drive on its first possession. The Knights scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Moebius to Chris Reem. Five Knights carried the ball and three different receivers had catches on the drive.
The Knights had the ball for 10:35 of the first quarter.
Foothill scored two defensive touchdowns in the second quarter. Yaghi recovered a fumble in the end zone to make it 14-0. McCune recovered a fumble and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown to extend the Knights’ lead to 21-0, which was the halftime score.
Early in the third quarter, Brea’s Malik Campbell cut off a Foothill pass at the Foothill 28-yard line and returned it down the right sideline for the Wildcats’ first touchdown.
Copeland scored on a 5-yard run to push the Foothill lead to 28-7 early in the fourth quarter. Hanley’s 7-yard touchdown run sliced the Foothill lead to two TDs.
But Copeland added a 25-yard touchdown run and Evan Mickelson kicked a 20-yard field goal to make it 37-14.
Brea scored in the final seconds on a 10-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Dylan Flenniken.
Foothill plays another North Hills League team, Canyon, next Friday at El Modena High. In another Crestview-North Hills game, Brea plays a home game against Esperanza on Thursday.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
