Champion Has 527 Yards in Win

A rough year for Foothill was all but forgotten Thursday night, whensenior running back Skyler Champion set an Orange County record by rushing for 527 yards and scored five touchdowns to lead the Knights to their first victory of the season, a 46-12 Century League win over Orange at Fred Kelly Stadium.

Champion gained his yardage in 21 carries, a 25.1-yard average, and posted the second-highest rushing total in Southern Section history. Ronney Jenkins of Oxnard Hueneme had 619 yards in a 1995 game.

“Everything was in the right place,” said the 6-foot, 210-pound Champion. “It was a great night. We finally won a game and I got the record.”

Champion had touchdown runs of 79, nine, 63, 76 and 12 yards. By halftime, Champion had 362 yards.

The previous county record, 422 yards, was set by Paul Caffrey of Heritage Christian in 1997. Champion passed that with a 25-yard run with 2:18 left in the third quarter, giving him 445 yards, then gained 11 more on his next carry.

But Coach Casey Mazzotta and his staff thought Champion was just approaching the record. And they weren’t sure just how close he was. So when Foothill (1-8, 1-3) recovered a fumble with 9:24 left in the game, Champion was sent back on the field. He then busted a 71-yard run to give him his final total.

Orange is 0-9 overall, 0-4 in league.