Foothill comeback leaves Santa Margarita stunned
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MISSION VIEJO – 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.
Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com
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