Coach Matt Sweeney and his Foothill football team sure hopes the Roman rhetorician Seneca the Elder was right when he said, “It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.” Last week, in a game that was not expected to be as close as it was, the Falcons escaped with a nail-biting 32-29 win over James Logan in the first round of the North Coast Section (NCS) 4A playoffs.
The game was decided in the final 2:10 of the fourth quarter. After the Falcon defense forced a James Logan punt, the Falcon offense took only four plays and 41 seconds to score the game-winning touchdown. The drive started with a 16-yard completion to Tony Barnett and ended on an 8-yard TD pass from quarterback Josh Mendonca to Ryan Theige. Sandwiched between was a 23-yard completion to Jordan Johnson, who finished the game with 11 receptions for 144 yards and a 4-yard run by running back Rob Andrews to move the ball to the Colts 8-yard line.
In a classic match-up of power versus speed, ultimately power won out. The Colts from James Logan used their speed to ring up 343 yards rushing on an astounding 54 carries. That one game total nearly matched the 377 yards rushing allowed by the Foothill defense in their six EBAL games this entire season.
The Falcons’ next opponent will be Pittsburg High School (7-4) from the Bay Valley League. The Pirates, seeded sixth in the tournament, upset third seeded Deer Valley 26-23 in overtime. Pittsburg is an explosive offensive team as evidenced by their scoring 21 or more points in all but one of their divisional games this season, including 50 against Ygnacio Valley and 40 against Freedom High School from Oakley.
Fullback Monte Davis is their workhorse on offense. He rushed for 145 yards on 19 carries against Deer Valley. Quarterback Kraig Pifer threw for two touchdowns to help Pittsburg avenge their earlier 35-14 defeat at the hands of Deer Valley.
Friedrich Nietzsche said, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” If Nietzsche was correct, then the Foothill Falcons football team will be a handful for the Pirates when the Falcons host the Pittsburg at 7 p.m. tomorrow night.
Tickets for the game against Pittsburg can be purchased prior to Saturday night by contacting Cynthia Lynn at lynnfamily5@comcast.net or in the senior parking lot at Foothill High School today from 9 to 11 a.m. Ticket prices are $8 for adults and $5 for children, FHS students, and senior citizens (60+ years).
Foothill girls volleyball wins NCS title
Last weekend the Foothill girlís varsity volleyball team completed their 35-0 undefeated season by capturing the North Coast Section Division I girlís volleyball championship. The Falcons defeated No. 3 seed Deer Valley 25-20, 25-23, 25-22 for the victory.The championship did not come easy as Foothill had to battle back from behind in game two of the match and had to hold off a furious comeback attempt by the Wolverines in game three.
Led by Coach Dusty Collins, the Falcons used their well-coordinated passing attack throughout the match. The match came to an end when senior Christy Payne–who totaled 25 assists, 10 digs, and five kills–put away the final point. Outstanding defensive blocks led the Foothill girls from several players with perhaps the biggest coming from Alaynah Fielder and Felicia Willoughby at 20-17 in the final game.
CCOP 7th graders defeat St. Raymondís
The Catholic Community of Pleasanton (CCOP) seventh grade girls, team 7005, defeated St. Raymondís, team 7008, 28-16 last weekend. It was a team effort for CCOP, who trailed by one point at the end of the first quarter. The offense exploded for 13 points in the second quarter to take a 17-9 halftime lead.
The teams played an even third quarter, but CCOP outscored St. Raymondís by four in the fourth period. The top scorer for CCOP was Michele Mann with 9 points (three rebounds, one steal). Contributing to the win were Nicole Ponzini (seven points, one steal), Emily Alberts (four points, two steals), Lauren MacDonnell (five points, five steals), Kelly Parson (two points, one steal), Jessica Morosoli (one point, two steals, one block) and Vivian Hare. The tough CCOP defense was powered by Sydney Okumura (six rebounds, two steal, two blocks) and Lyndsay Godwin (five rebounds, one steal, one block).
