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.

The Patriots defeated Connelly in four sets in what might be the teams biggest victory of their young program.

By ARTIE CASAS

Tustin Sports Editor

Beckman defeated the defending CIF-SS Divsion V-A champions Connelly 3-1 (20-25, 25-17 and 27-25) in a non-league match-up at the Patriots Olympic gym on Tuesday night.

The Patriots (4-1) used an all-around team game to earn the upset victory.

Lydia Bai led Beckman with 20 kills, Alana Long had 43 assists and Alison Kaprielian  had 22 digs.

The Koalas (1-1) took the first match, 25-21, but they could not with stand the momentum the Patriots gained by winning the second and third matches, 25-16 and 25-15, with relative ease.

“We got contributions from everyone tonight,” Evern Tannverdi said. “Our girls really settled down and controlled the tempo of the game from the second match on.”

Also contributing to the win with four blocks and five aces was Casey Williams. Teresa Stenlund was second on the team with 14 kills and four aces. 

The Knights girl’s cross-country team made some big strides at the Woodbridge Invitational this past weekend. 

By JERRY PALAZZO

Tustin Sports Guest Blogger

After this past weekend Foothill’s girl’s cross-country team is no longer the best kept secret in the county.

Julia and Allie Rigby, Alison and Ariane Gushue and Carley Gross competed in the largest single day cross country meet in the nation on Saturday, the Woodbridge Invitational, and placed second behind Division I state champions Saugus.

The Knights set a team time record while competing in the elite Sweepstakes Race.
Maybe the most notable fact for the girls is that all 5 of their scoring runners ran faster than their top runner did at this same meet last year.  

Also, all 5 scoring runners ran faster than the top Foothill girl did at the Woodbridge Invitational back in 1999, when Foothill won the State Championship.

Foothill’s cross-country team is currently ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS DII.

The Knights scored 35 straight points after being down early to rout Villa Park 49-27.

BY ARTIE CASAS

Tustin Sports Editor

It took a Villa Park first half wake-up call before Foothill’s offense went on a tear scoring 35 straight point’s en route to a 49-27 victory at El Modena High in a nonleauge game on Friday.

The Spartans (0-2) jumped to an early 20-14 lead thanks to a pair of Tyler Watkins touchdown passes and the Knights muffed kick off return.

“We were able to capitalize on that turnover and move the ball effectively early,” Villa Park Coach Pat Mahoney said.

The momentum really shifted in Foothill’s favor when quarterback Chad Miller scored on a one yard with no time remaining in the first half.

“We might have got out of the first half being down just one point, but they called a penalty on us for picking up the football,” Mahoney said.

“That stopped the clock and gave Foothill another chance to score.”

After that the Knights (2-0) offense started rolling as they gained a combined 329 rushing yards and scored three more touchdowns on the ground, seven in total.

“Villa Park did a great job of giving us a little slap in the face to wake us up,” Foothill Coach Doug Case said. “It looked like we were playing with no sense of urgency and after halftime we did a great job of making some adjustments.”

Tailback Michael Camacho, 172 yards, and Miller, 98 yards, accounted for most of the damage with three rushing touchdowns each.

“The line was blocking really great and everyone seemed to be really in sync,” Camacho said.

“Our offense is only getting better and nothing can stop Foothill right now.”

When the Spartans stacked the box with eight or nine defenders Miller made them pay by passing for 203 yards in the air.

“We got beat by a very good football team that has a dynamic offense that can beat you in a number of different ways,” Mahoney said.

“Their quarterback (Miller) can really run and he is a solid passer.”

The Knights defense looked shaky at times, but they still managed to create three turnovers. Linebacker James Song was the defensive star of the night with a fumble recovery and an interception.

Foothill’s defense put the clamps on Villa Park in the second half by only allowing a fourth quarter touchdown.

GAME DAY HIGHLIGHTS

GAME BREAKER – When Foothill’s Chad Miller stretched across the goal line with no time left in the first half to give his team a 28-20 lead it seemed to deflate Villa Park’s hopes of winning the game and give the Knights a much needed boost heading into halftime.

IMPACT STAT – Foohtill’s Ian Anderson had one fumble recovery and two tackles for a loss for a Foothill defense that look suspect in the first half.

GAME BALL – Running back Michael Camacho was a grinder for the Knights as he carried the ball 20 times for 172 yards and three touchdowns. 

Little brother Peter honors Kenny by wearing his jersey as Beckman’s ball boy. 

BY JOSH DIGGS

Tustin Sports Blog Contributor

It was overly obvious that last week’s Beckman-Artesia game was the first game at Tustin this season.

As I made my way up to the press box I was overcome with nostalgic memories of my senior year of college! The tight, compact area looked more like my room than a press box.

It was littered with paper, envelopes, graduation programs from last June, sunflower seeds that I probably deposited there sometime last season, and wood chips from the slowly eroding door.

Tustin High is lucky the city doesn’t use the same standards for restaurants that it does for its press boxes.

On top of that all five chairs were leaning toward one end zone and they were so lopsided it looked as if Roseanne Barr had used each one to change a light bulb.

Ok enough about the press box, here on some thought from the Beckman game: The mood was somber before the game as fans and players remembered Kenny Wilson.

I overheard a lot of people saying good things about the young man, whose name still appeared on the team media guide.

His family played a big part of the tribute. They took part in the coin toss before the game and there was a long moment of silence in his name.

His younger brother Peter, a sixth grader at nearby Pioneer Middle School, was the game’s honorary ball boy and was tossing the ball around before the game. He also wore the Beckman jersey with the number 59, the number Kenny would have worn.

His sister Candace, a freshman at Beckman, is a member of the marching band.

Tustin will face off against Beckman in two different sports today.

BY ARTIE CASAS

Tustin Sports Editor

A new rivalry week kicks off as Tustin hits the road to take on Beckman in a boys water polo game at 4:15 p.m. at the Patriots Olympic pool.

 Later on in the day Beckman will be the guest team in the Tillers gym during a girls volleyball game that is set to start at 6 p.m.

This will be the first two meetings of the year between Beckman and Tustin.

Last Friday Foothill defeated Tustin, 40-26, in the 41st crosstown rivalry football game between the two schools.

Did you know? 

BY ARTIE CASAS
Tustin Sports Editor
Did you know that Foothill Coach Doug Case is on the verge of becoming the Knights All-Time football wins leader?
After Foothill’s 40-26 win over crosstown rival Tustin on Friday, Case now has 53 career wins under his belt as the Knights coach.
That leaves him just five wins away from the school’s all-time football record - 58.
The current record holder is Ted Mullen, who led Foothill to its only CIF title (1981) while coaching the Knights from 1981-86.
Now the only question left to ask is will Case break the all-time record this season?
Foothill has nine games left, four in the pre-season and five in the Sea View League.
I believe the record will be his sometime during league play.

Foothill out slugs Tustin, 40-26, for city bragging rights.

BY ARTIE CASAS

Tustin Sports Editor

Foothill won city bragging rights by defeating Tustin, 40-26, in the 41st crosstown rivalry game Friday night at Tustin High.

It didn’t take long for Foothill’s high-powered offense to get rolling as the Knights (0-1) scored on their first play when quarterback Chad Miller rolled out of the pocket and connected with a wide-open Mike Clenshaw for an 84-yard touchdown.

“We’ve had the first play scripted all week long,” Foothill Coach Doug Case said. “It’s always big when your team can come out and get on the board first.”

The Tillers (0-2) responded with a 75-yard drive, which was completed with a 1-yard touchdown run by Ryan Richardson, who had two touchdowns in the game. Anthony Wilkerson’s 54-yard run sparked the drive.

Wilkerson did all of his damage in the first half — 105 rushing yards on 13 carries — before leaving the game with an ankle injury. Tustin suffered another devastating injury to its backfield when fullback Daniel Munoz, who had rushed for 47 yards on seven carries, was carried off the field with an undisclosed leg injury.

“We lost a lot of players early in this game and we still had a pretty good night offensively,” Tustin Coach Myron Miller said. “We had our chances to be in this football game.” Tustin hurt itself by losing three fumbles in their own territory and each resulted in a Foothill touchdown thanks to the prime field position.

Foothill controlled the game’s tempo, rushing for 240 yards and three touchdowns; tail back Michael Camacho did most of the damage with 165 yards. The Knights passing game also faired well with 124 yard and three touchdowns; Miller alone accounted for five of Foothills six touchdowns.

BY ARTIE CASAS

Tustin Sports Editor 

The game of the year starts with all of the tailgate parties in the parking lot.

This sports writer has already been invited to a few and might crash some others.

What I want to know is who hold the all-time series lead?  Does anyone out there know?

During my tenure as the Tustin News Sports Editor the series is dead even at one a piece.

This year I Foothill will break that tie with a dominating win over Tustin. I’m curious if there is any kind of friendly bets between Foothill and Tustin alums. If there is post them up by leaving a comment.

Bragging rights will be on the line tonight with kickoff set for 7 p.m. at Tustin High, but the real party starts at 5 p.m in the parking lot.

Costly mistakes and missed opportunities lead to a Beckman loss 

BY ARTIE CASAS

Tustin Sports Editor

Everyone had a hand in the Patriots 18-15 loss to Artesia last night at Tustin High’s Northrup Stadium.

T-towns football house was rocking after a pre-game moment of silence for Beckman’s Kenny Wilson.  It was also a nice touch having his parents be a part of the coin flip ceremony and having Wilson’s little brother sport what will be an immortalized No. 59 Patriots jersey.

Everything started off great, especially when D’Amato Tyson broke off a 62-yard run and then punched it in from nine yards out to give Beckman a 7-0 lead. Then the adrenalin wore off and the game became a defensive stalemate.

Beckman did have a chance to kick a field goal at one point from about 35 yards out, but instead elected to run the ball on fourth down and three yards to go (a questionable decision that would haunt them later). This was mistake number one.

Then quarterback Sebastian Vollarets missed a wide open Matt Cortez in the middle of the field with an overthrown pass, all Vollarets had to do was get it near Cortez and a touchdown was all but guaranteed. Mistake number two.

Artesia finally found its rhythm on offense with a minute left in the first half and drove the ball the length of the field for a touchdown, but missed the extra point. Mistake number three (should always keep your safeties back with minute left at the end of a half or game to prevent the big play).

Vollarets almost made another huge mistake when he threw and interception and was nearly run back for a touchdown with no time remaining in the second quarter – the flood gates would have really opened up if that had happened.

On the opening kick off the second half everyone in the Patriots stand held their breaths for about two offensive series’ – that’s because Tyson came out of the game with leg cramps.

By the time Tyson came back in his team was trailing 12-7 late in the third quarter.  That’s when he went to work and helped drive Beckman the length of the field. On third and really long, Tyson broke loose eluding two tacklers, stiff arming another to the ground and dragging another two across the first down markers. A few plays late Vollarets connected with Brian Yim on a 32-yard play action pass.

A quarterback keeper from four yards out put Beckman up 13-12. Then the Patriots did the smart thing and went for the two point conversion, which was completed with a Vollarets pass to Park Allenbach.

The momentum seemed to be on the Patriots side, but the clock wasn’t.

With just over two minutes left in the game Artesia made one last run at stealing a road victory. The Pioneers ran the ball and picked up some yards here and there, but nothing big. Then with just a minute left Artesia took a few shots down the field. The first shot missed and so did the second, but the third time was a charm. The Pioneers quarterback hit his receiver between two Beckman defenders on the near sideline and was tackled almost instantly inbounds with just seconds left in the game. Mistake number four.

After three attempts the punch the ball in from the red-zone Artesia was forced to settle for a game tying field goal.  The Pioneers missed the field goal, but a roughing the kicker penalty allowed Artesia to move up half the distance to the goal and retry the field goal – this time Artesia split the uprights. Mistake number five.

The game went into overtime (based on a California tie breaker), which was a first in Beckman’s brief football history.The Patriots won the coin flip and went first on offense. The first play was a small yardage run. Then Beckman turned to the play action pass. Vollaerts nailed his receiver Matt Cortez with a pass right on the numbers, but Cortez dropped the ball and an opportunity to get a first down – maybe even more. Mistake number six. Beckman kicker Cameron Casty then missed a 30-yard field goal on fourth down.

Artesia capped off the comeback victory that should have never happened with a chip-shot field goal from 26-yards out.Beckman had every chance to win this game, but a handful of mistakes and three bad minutes on defense cost the Patriots a victory.

Now it will be interesting to see how Beckman will use this game as a learning experience.