Foothill comeback leaves Santa Margarita stunned

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