ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREP EXTRA : Foothill Gets Some Revenge With 28-14 Victory

Call it settling a little unfinished business.

That’s what Foothill did Friday, defeating Newport Harbor, 28-14, in front of about 4,000 at Newport Harbor.

With the victory, the Knights achieved some revenge for last season’s loss to the Sailors in the semifinals of the Southern Section Division V playoffs, which the Sailors eventually won.

Further, it was the first victory for Foothill Coach Tom Meiss against Newport Harbor in four years.

“It was a great win,” Meiss said. “But . . . last year, there was a lot more hanging in the balance.”

Tramel Robinson, a senior tailback, gained 218 yards in 26 carries and scored all four touchdowns for the Knights (3-0) on runs of two, 39, 10 and 14 yards. Nick Sveslosky, a senior running back, gained 88 yards in 12 carries.

“We just said we’ll be patient and it should pay off for us,” Meiss said.

Foothill scored its last touchdown with 8 minutes 43 seconds to play to go ahead, 28-0.

Sveslosky had a key, 30-yard run on third down and 28 yards to go to give the Knights a first down at their 45-yard line and keep the drive alive. Ten plays later, Robinson scored on a 14-yard run.

The Sailors (1-2) did not score until the final four minutes.

The Sailors marched 77 yards and scored on a six-yard run by quarterback Josiah Fredricksen with 3:54 to play and Fredricksen’s pass failed on the two-point conversion attempt. They scored again less than three minutes later when Fredricksen connected on a 45-yard pass play to Chris Morrell and then completed another pass to Jacob Matlin for the two-point conversion.

But Newport Harbor’s onside kick attempt failed and Foothill recovered on its 47-yard line with less than a minute remaining and ran out the clock.

Fredricksen completed eight of 18 passes for 142 yards.

Last year’s 13-10 overtime semifinal loss was especially bitter for Foothill because it had gained more yards than Newport Harbor in total offense. But that wasn’t the case on Friday. Foothill had 399 yards in total offense to Newport Harbor’s 239 and also put the points on the scoreboard.

Foothill amassed 95 yards in total penalties.

“A plague, yes we had a plague of penalties,” Meiss said. “If it hadn’t been for the penalties, we probably would have put it away a lot more [smoothly].”