Orange County’s fourth-ranked boys water polo team finished fourth at the Bellarmine/Lynbrook Finis Memorial Memorial Cup Invitational in San Jose.

I made the trip with a hunch that Foothill might make a jump in its power-ranking. Perhaps that will come later. It was also the only high school water polo around and some good competition, too.

I like the potential in Foothill but today wasn’t a great day for them with two losses. Check the polo pages for details.

– Dan Albano/The Register

By ARTIE CASAS & TIM BURT

Foothill’s Sea View League game against Northwood has been rescheduled to Monday night at 7 p.m. at Irvine Stadium.

Northwood’s game against Trabuco Hills has also been switched from Friday, Nov. 2, to Saturday, Nov. 3, but the start time has not yet been determined.

Canyon vs. Tustin
Monday, 4 p.m.
At Tustin High

Aliso Niguel vs. Tesoro
Monday, 7 p.m.
At Aliso Niguel High

Beckman vs. Cerritos
Monday, 7 p.m.
At Tustin High

Costa Mesa vs. Laguna Beach
Monday, 7 p.m.
At Laguna Beach High

Capistrano Valley vs. San Clemente
Monday, 7 p.m.
At San Clemente High

Ocean View vs. Saddleback
Monday, 7 p.m.
At Segerstrom High

Los Alamitos vs. Newport Harbor
Monday, 7 p.m.
At Newport Harbor High

Dana Hills vs. Mission Viejo
Monday, 7 p.m.
At Mission Viejo High

Edison vs. Esperanza
Monday, 7 p.m.
At Valencia High

La Quinta vs. Rancho Alamitos
Monday, 7 p.m.
At Bolsa Grande High

Magnolia vs. Savanna
Tuesday, 7 p.m.
At Glover Stadium

The Patriots will be a game-day decision.

By ARTIE CASAS

Tustin Sports Editor

Beckman will make its decision to play its game against Cerritos on Friday morning around noon.

If the game is rescheduled it will be moved to Saturday at 1 p.m. with the location still at Tustin High.

Sea View League title game postponed.

By ARTIE CASAS

Tustin Sports Editor

Foothill will have to wait another week.

The Knights were suppose to take on El Toro at 7:30 p.m. today at Beckman High in what was expected to be a the Sea View League Title game, but the game has been rescheduled due to all of the surrounding fires.

Instead the top two teams in the SVL will collide next week on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. at Beckman High.

Foothill will enter the game undefeated in the SVL, 3-0, after defeating Northwood 8-7 last week on Wednesday.

El Toro’s only blemish, 2-1, was a loss to Northwood earlier in the season.

If the Knights win they will essentially claim the SVL title, but if El Toro wins there will be a three way tie for first.

The city of Irvine’s biggest prize is still up for grab.
By TIM BURT
Staff Writer
With its 31-14 victory over Irvine last Friday night, University High’s football team moved closer to winning the Dennis Toohey Fence Post Trophy.
However, the winner won’t be decided until the final week of the season.
The Trojans are 3-0 with victories over Northwood, Woodbridge and Irvine.
University would win the Fence Post Trophy outright by defeating Beckman in the final week of the regular season on Nov. 8 at Irvine Stadium.
That would leave University with a 4-0 mark against city rivals.
(more…)

The Patriots kicking Coach Brad Bohn’s West Coast Kicking Academy has been a big hit.
By JOSH DIGGS
Tustin Sports Writer

The first time University kicker Louis Feinstein attended Brad Bohn’s West Coast Kicking Academy, he might have wondered if he was in the right place. (more…)

The Knights pulled off an upset victory over the Timberwolves, 8-7.

By ARTIE CASAS

Tustin News Sports Editor

Foothill now has total control of its own destiny in its quest for a Sea View League title after defeating Northwood 8-7.
The Knights (14-6, 3-0) needed to do beat the Timberwolves, who defeated No.2 ranked El Toro (17-2, 2-1) 11-9 two weeks ago, at Northwood on Wednesday afternoon to become the only unbeaten team in the SVL.
Not an easy task considering that the Timberwolves were ranked No. 6 in the county heading into the game.
But Foothill, who is ranked No. 7 in county, managed to play a stingy zone defense and score just enough to come away victorious.
“We played great team defense in a game that we really need to win,” Foothill Coach Jim Brumm said. “I can’t be more proud of how they played today.”
Every guy on the team really stepped up today and I told them that in order to win this game we were going to have to play as a team.”
The Timberwolves took the early lead on a Travis Noll penalty shot with 5:49 left in the first quarter.
But that would be the only lead Northwood would have in the game.
Foothill answered with two goals of its own, Paul Pickell on a set play and Brenden Verloop from the post, to take a 2-1 at the end of the first period.
“It’s important to take advantage of every scoring opportunity that we can and we did that today,” Pickell said.
Northwood tied the game at 2-2 when Noll capitalized on a Foothill exclusion with 5:45 left in the second quarter. But once again the Knights came storming back with a pair of goals, Clayton McFadden connected from the perimeter and Verloop dropped another in from the post, to take a 4-2 lead into the half.
In the third quarter Northwood and Foothill exchanged goals twice. The Timberwolves Noll scored his third goal of the game and the Knights Sean Ison answered with an exclusion skip shot.
Then Northwood’s Cody Caballero hit a turnaround shot from the post and Foothill’s McFadden responded with perimeter shot with 1:55 left to make it 6-4 at the end of the third quarter.
“We’ve been practicing and preparing for games like this before the season even started,” said McFadden, who was responsible for shutting down Northwood’s second leading scorer Jon Colton.
The Timberwolves made one last run at pulling out the victory as they outscored the Knights, 3-2, in the fourth quarter. Noll made two penalty shots and Colton added another from the post.
But a Pickell penalty shot and a perimeter shot from Nick Knoishi by Foothill left Northwood just one goal shy of tying the game.

Anchoring the team on defense with nine saves was Foothill goaltender Jay Lovero.
“It really came down to our team playing good defense,” Lovero said. “I just tried to remind our guys where to be on defense and to keep our intensity up.”
Foothill can essentially clinch the Sea View League title with a win over El Toro on Wednesday at Beckman High.
“If we beat El Toro we will be No. 1,” Pickell said. “You can bet that we will be fired up for that game.”

Here are two different takes on the same game from the Tustin Sports writers.By Artie Casas
Tustin Sports Editor
The Knights (4-0) will host Santa Margarita (2-2) on Thursday at Tustin High with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

Here is what I know: Foothill’s offense is real good, its defense is bad and the Eagles are a sure tackling team. What does this mean? Foothill will have to out slug Santa Margarita. Don’t expect the same defensive stalemate from a year ago.

Key to the game: Quarterback Chad Miller’s decision making. Foothill will live and die on Miller’s efficiency in the pocket this week. He needs to hit his open receivers, they need to catch ball, and Miller also has to know when to make a run for it when a play breaks down.

Who to watch: Running back Michael Camacho and Foothill’s 12th man (the fans). Camacho is not the type of runner that goes down on the first hit, but I’m curious to see if he can break a big run against a stingy Eagles defense. Players tend to feed off the energy and excitement from the fans, two years ago that’s what lifted the Knights over Santa Margarita.

Prediction: Foothill’s defense makes me want to pick the Eagles, but the offense has me believing that it will take Santa Margarita’s spot in the Orange County’s top ten ranking with a 42-35 win.
 

By JOSH DIGGS
Tustin Sports Writer

The conclusion of Week 4 brings some more clarity to an already intriguing season. Each team’s overall strengths and weaknesses are becoming more evident. Foothill proved that it definitely belongs in the middle of the Top 25 rankings with a big win over El Modena.
FOOTHILL VS. SANTA MARGARITA
This was my preseason pick for game of the season for Foothill. Last year’s 7-6 loss for the Knights adds extra motivation to their mission of proving to the rest of the county that they are for real.
Who to watch: Foothill’s Chad Miller and Santa Margarita’s Carlo Audagnotti. Each time I see Miller I swear he’s an inch taller and stronger. He rushed for three TD’s last week and threw for two more. He also converted a two-point conversion, went heads up with linebackers on several occasions and added a booming 60 yard punt. What else can you say? The Eagles’s Audagnotti is averaging over 150 yards per game rushing.

Did you feel that? Jordan Winger. The linebacker flies around and is probably the hardest hitter on the team. He made his presence felt last week with several hard hits, nine tackles including a pretty solo tackle at the 1-yard line on El Modena’s Ray Holley. Look for him to zero in on Audagnotti.
Keep rolling, rolling, rolling: The Knights offense has yet to find a defense it hasn’t liked this season. The offense has gotten better each outing with scores of 40, 49, 55 and 56, but it has yet to play a defense as well coached as Santa Margarita’s.
Prediction: Foothill doesn’t put up the points it has been accustomed to, but it grinds out a win and stuns Santa Margarita 21-20.

The Knights scored a pair of memorable touchdowns in a 55-6 win over Buena Park.

 By ARTIE CASAS

Tustin Sports Editor

All of Foothill’s usual suspects and then some reached the end zone in a 55-6 win over Buena Park in a non-league game at the Coyotes Stadium on Thursday.

The Knight’s (3-0) running back Michael Camacho looked unstoppable with three touchdowns in the first half, one of which came on a 41-yard screen pass.

Quarterback Chad Miller did his customary double-threat action with a pair of touchdowns via the run and pass for a total of four scores. 

“We came out and stayed focused throughout the game and got on the board early,” Foothill coach Doug Case said.

“That allowed us to reward some guys that do a lot of the dirty work later on in the game.”

One of Miller’s touchdown passes was to wide receiver Julian Jacobson, the first of his career.

“It was a perfect ball right over my shoulder on a post route,” Jacobson said.

“It was a great feeling to finally get one.”

Then the Knights crowd got what it was chanting, RUDY-RUDY-RUDY, for when the heart of the offensive line Ruurd Amelita made his debut in the backfield.

Foothill’s gentle giant reached the end zone with authority as he broke one tackle and bulldozed over another defender. 

“They have been telling that I was going to get rewarded,” Amelita said. “Once I got the ball I used the jukes that Camacho has been showing me and my power to get into the end zone.”

Deon Anthony provided Buena Park (0-3) with its lone offensive highlight when he broke free for an 80-yard kickoff return late in the second quarter.

“I hit my seam and just saw a gap open up,” Anthony said.

“Then all I had to do was not let anybody catch me.”

GAME DAY HIGHLIGHTS

GAME BREAKER – The game was already in the bag, but Ben Douglas’ 79-yard run with three minutes left in the game set-up a golden moment a particular Foothill lineman.

IMPACT STAT – The Knight did not allow Buena Park to get a first down in the first half and at one point the Coyotes had more penalty yards (40) than offensive yards (11).

GAME BALL – It only seems fair that the anchor on Foothill’s line got his moment in the spot light with a four yard touchdown run.