Foothill rides explosive offense to win over Legacy — PHOTOS
Foothill’s football team wasn’t happy with its offense in a loss at Sloan Canyon on Aug. 29.
A bye week seems to have cured what ailed the Falcons.
Foothill scored on five plays of 22 or more yards on Friday en route to a 37-7 home victory over Legacy.
“We had a tough loss against Sloan Canyon. Our offense wasn’t really picking it up,” said senior receiver Micah Farrar, who caught touchdown passes from both of Foothill’s quarterbacks. “But this bye week, we had a players-only meeting, and we really got work in this week, and I really think that’s why we won the football game, because we had a great week of practice and a great bye week.”
Farrar got things going for the Falcons (3-1), hauling in a 32-yard scoring strike from Ryder Dobbs with 8:07 to go in the first quarter.
Foothill had lost yardage on its first two plays from scrimmage before Dobbs hit Farrar in stride just outside the end zone.
The Falcons led 14-7 when Farrar’s second TD catch broke the game open. Farrar caught a pass from Ayden Waier near the Legacy 45 and raced untouched across the field for a 57-yard catch-and-run to put the Falcons up 21-7 with 2:44 to go in the half.
“I think it all starts with the quarterbacks and the coaching staff,” Farrar said. “We all watched film all weekend, and we had every single day we went in and watched film. We just executed the game plan. Everyone did their assignments.”
Dobbs, a sophomore, completed 8 of 12 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns for Foothill. Waier, a junior, completed 6 of 9 passes for 132 yards and a score.
“I really like it,” Farrar said of the quarterback rotation. “It gives us a different dynamic, because Ayden, our junior quarterback, is more of a pocket passer. And Ryder is able to scramble more, so I think it gives the defense a different look.”
The Falcons wasted little time extending their lead, as Dobbs connected with Braxton Bonnett on a 45-yard touchdown pass on the fourth play of the second half. Bonnett slipped a tackle near the line of scrimmage, then made a defender miss near the 20 on the play.
On the first play of Foothill’s next drive, Dobbs hit Anthony Taylor with a swing pass out of the backfield. Taylor cut back across the middle and raced untouched for a 70-yard TD reception that made it 34-7 with 8:13 to go in the third quarter.
“We’re still playing our two-quarterback system, still trying to work that out,” Foothill coach Vernon Brown said. “Both guys are playing well, so I’m a believer that if you can play there’s no way we can keep you off the field.”
Taylor also had a 22-yard TD run in the second quarter to break a 7-7 tie and start a string of 30 unanswered points for Foothill.
Dallin Bair had a pair of sacks for the Falcons, who forced three turnovers and limited the Longhorns (1-3) to 135 yards of offense.
“I think our defense, they really stopped the run game,” Farrar said. “We were worried about the run game all week of practice. And, I think we really held them to a minimum amount of running.”
Legacy’s JaeLynn Love-Carter hit Jordan Drayton with a 7-yard TD pass with 11:07 to go in the first quarter to tie the game.
The Longhorns had one more good opportunity to score late in the half, but Love-Carter was shaken up after a late hit at the end of a 10-yard scramble and didn’t return to the game. Legacy then was unable to take advantage of a first-and-goal situation, and the half ended after a bad snap on a field-goal attempt.
Zaione Henderson had 71 yards on 21 carries for the Longhorns.
