Foothill’s Defense Makes Its Breaks, Stops Esperanza

And where were you on the night of Friday, Nov. 22, 1985? Esperanza Coach Pete Yoder had an alibi. In fact, he had several.

Yoder was at Northrup Field, where he and approximately 4,000 witnesses watched Foothill’s defense do what it has done throughout the 1985 season.

Need a sack or crucial turnover? Maybe a fourth-down stand? Call these guys. They answered nearly every time they were called upon in Friday night’s first round of the Southern Conference playoffs, and the result was a 14-7 Foothill victory that gave Yoder his first losing season in 15 years as a prep coach.

The loss ended Esperanza’s 1985 football season at 5-6 . . . and left Yoder mulling about his team’s many misfortunes.

Yoder had watched his team open the game by driving 80 yards in 11 plays to take a 7-0 lead. It looked so easy. Esperanza quarterback Greg Beckman completed 4 of 5 passes for 42 yards on the drive, including a 3-yard touchdown to tight end Frank Klisura.

From that point on, however, nothing came easy for Esperanza.

Foothill tied it at 7-7 early in the second quarter, then got the game-winning touchdown with 8:31 to play on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Chris Fergus to Keith Takabayashi. The Aztecs appeared to have a chance to tie after forcing Foothill to punt from its end zone with 2:39 to play. Foothill punter Don Lakin got off a short punt, but the ball hit the leg of a Esperanza blocker and was recovered for the Knights by Andrew Greco at the Foothill 42.

Yoder’s reaction: Gimme a break.

“We thought we were going to get the ball at the (Knights’) 35-yard line, and we didn’t,” Yoder said. “But that’s been the story of our year. I don’t think we got three breaks all year.”

Said Foothill Coach Ted Mullen: “Yeah, we got some breaks, but we made some breaks, too.”

The Foothill game plan this season has gone something like this: Do whatever it takes to get a touchdown or two, then let the defense take care of the rest. That defense has recorded five shutouts in 11 games, and has consistently provided the big play when it was needed most.

“That’s the story of our lives,” Mullen said. “We have to do it that way.”

That trend continued Friday. Foothill running back John Fischbeck was held to 36 yards on 19 punishing carries. The Knights managed only 127 yards in total offense. But, with the usual amount of help from the defense, the offense found its way to the end zone twice, and that was enough.

Foothill’s first touchdown was a perfect example. Junior nose-guard Brian Healy recovered an Esperanza fumble on the Aztec 19. Two plays later, Chris Cutliff held onto a high pass from Fergus for a 16-yard touchdown play.

Suddenly, all of the early momentum Esperanza had generated was reversed.

The Knights (8-2) spent the next several minutes keeping pressure on Beckman and keeping Esperanza frustrated. They took the lead when Takabayashi was wide open on a delay pass over the middle and Fergus found him for a 12-yard touchdown. The winning touchdown came after Foothill coaches called a timeout to debate a play selection on a third-and-10 play.

“(Assistant coach George) Dena and I were arguing,” Mullen said. “He wanted to call the play we ended up calling, and I was afraid of the blitz. But I always have faith in Dena, because he’s the magician.”

From there, the Knights simply relied on their defense. And Esperanza, darn the luck, couldn’t solve it.

Said Yoder: “We had some bad breaks. If a couple of those things would have gone our way . . . who knows?”