CENTURY LEAGUE : Foothill’s Daft Puts It Together

Kevin Daft put the headsets on quickly. He wanted to hear this conversation.

Daft had just guided Foothill to a 41-21 victory over Canyon Thursday at El Modena High School. His 240 yards passing and three touchdown passes had taken the Knights (5-3, 3-0) to the top of the Century League in style.

Time for the ritual. On the other end of the headsets was quarterback coach Tom Ricci, who was up in the booth.

“He always wants to talk to me when I come out of a game,” Daft said. “He was pretty happy about this one. I liked hearing that.”

The words haven’t always kind.

Daft had the offense heaped on his shoulders at the start of the season. The Knights returned 14 starters and had plenty of expectations.

The key was the quarterback. Daft was the guy, even though he had spent the 1992 season on the junior varsity. The result was almost predictable.

“I think we were expecting too much from Kevin,” Coach Tom Meiss said. “He wasn’t ready.”

Getting there was a struggle. Daft wobbled and the Knights lost their first three games.

“I didn’t have any confidence,” Daft said. “It finally came together in the fourth game.”

Daft threw a touchdown pass to beat Brea-Olinda, 25-22, that night and hasn’t looked back.

On Thursday, he completed 11 of 19 passes and had a season-high in yardage.

“I got all the jitters out of my system,” Daft said.

Apparently, Canyon hadn’t. Sure, the Comanches were undefeated, but three of the teams they have beaten have a combined record of 3-18.

Still, the Comanches (6-1-1, 2-1) came into the game eager to take another step toward the first football league title in the school’s history. They left with serious questions as to whether they could even get into the playoffs, what with Villa Park and El Modena--two of the league’s better teams--ahead of them.

The night started badly for them, with quarterback Adam Hoover fumbling on Canyon’s first possession. It led to a Foothill field goal. The rest was a blur.

The Knights intercepted two passes and had three sacks, two by Scott Svelosky. On offense, they rolled up 191 yards rushing, 81 by Tramel Robinson.

Robinson also caught six passes for 88 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown reception that gave Foothill a 24-7 halftime lead.

Paul King caught two touchdown passes, covering 53 and 73 yards.

“You know, the passing game is 30% the quarterback and 70% the receivers,” Meiss said.

Daft did his 30% right and liked hearing about it afterward.