Douglas propels Foothill past Canyon

TUSTIN - After back to back victories against playoff contenders Tustin and Santa Margarita, the last thing Foothill coach Doug Case wanted was a letdown.

So he decided to make a statement early.

With a only seven-point lead early in the third quarter, Case decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 on the Knights' 29-yard line. The gamble paid off. Ben Douglas took the handoff and sprinted untouched 71 yards into the end zone for to take a 21-7 lead and pull away as the Knights outmuscled Canyon, 27-14, in a nonleague game at Tustin High on Friday.

"We definitely didn't want to look back on those wins and settle," Case said. "We wanted to make sure we keep getting better. We've played some tough teams so far and I challenged our team to keep up the intensity."

Foothill didn't waste any time picking up where they it left off last week, jumping as they jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first nine 9 minutes of the game.

After the Knights recovered a fumble on the fourth play of the game, Zach Griffith capped a short, 3-play drive with a 21-yard score on a quarterback keeper.

On their very next possession Griffith connected with Douglas for an over-the-shoulder catch for a 51-yard touchdown to take a 14-0 lead.

Douglas finished with two scores on 60 yards receiving and 100 yards rushing, after starter Robert Daniel was held out of the second half because of with flu-like symptoms.

Griffith threw for 199 yards and a score. Canyon responded with mounted a 12-play drive that culminated with Nick Mercurio's 16-yard pass to Colton Grandbuche in the corner of the end zone to cut its deficit to 14-7 in the second quarter.

The two connected for a 69-yard TD in the fourth quarter to make it 21-14, but that would be as close as they would get.