Foothill Comes Up Dry Against Tustin

There was little Tustin High School could do wrong Friday night. Oh, there was a botched drive and a couple of poorly thrown passes. There may even have been a few missed assignments.

But the few things that did go wrong for the Tillers didn’t seem to matter. Tustin had far too much for Foothill High to handle--too much speed, size and experience.

Almost methodically, the Tillers overpowered the Knights, 20-0, in front of 2,000 fans at Tustin High School. It was the second victory of the season for the Tillers, who defeated Honolulu Pac-5, 37-7, last week in Hawaii.

“I was worried that we might have left our game on the islands,” Tustin Coach Marijon Ancich said. “Foothill concerned me.”

Whatever worries or concerns Ancich had proved unfounded from the start.

On its first drive, Tustin drove 55 yards to the Foothill four-yard line. Although quarterback Andy Borza fumbled on third down, turning the ball over to the Knights, the drive proved the Foothill defense was superior up front.

The Tustin offensive line, which returned three starters from last season, created gaping holes for running backs Ron Goods and Visko Ancich.

Goods was especially effective, gaining 125 yards in 20 carries. In a spectacular 17-yard run, he dodged five would-be tacklers to set up a 37-yard field goal by Matt Coo just before halftime.

Ancich finished with 41 yards, including touchdown runs of two and five yards.

Tustin finished with 190 yards rushing and 246 total yards.

“I was surprised how well we controlled the line of scrimmage,” Ancich said. “Foothill has a good line and they always seem to give us trouble. But I felt we dominated the front tonight.”

The Tustin defense also owned the line of scrimmage. The Tillers decimated the Foothill offense, allowing the Knights only 75 total yards.

Tailback Sean Saunders, who gained 846 yards last season, was held to 28 yards in 11 carries. Saunders had only one carry for more than four yards, his last one when he gained 14 yards with 10 seconds left in the game.

“We knew we had to contain Saunders,” Ancich said. “He was the one guy who could really hurt us.”

With Saunders locked up, Foothill’s offense fell apart. In fact, the Knights got into Tustin territory only once, driving to the 16 before being pushed back, thanks to defensive tackle Efriam Miranda. On first down, he tackled quarterback Evan Lang for a seven-yard loss. On second down, he chased down Saunders on a screen pass for a one-yard loss. And, on third down, he sacked Lang, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Scott Stirnaman.

Miranda finished with two sacks in the game.

The Knights’ defense kept them close through most of the third quarter. Tustin, which led, 10-0, took a 13-0 lead on a 21-yard field goal by Coo with less than two minutes left in the third quarter.