No. 1 at Foothill High Now O.C. Champion Too

Athletes have dreams, always. Dreams of scoring the winning basket or hitting the game-winning home run. Dreams of hitting an ace on the final point of Wimbledon or a hole in one to win the Masters. Dreams of running with a football tucked under the arm, untouched, unbothered, for touchdowns and so much yardage that people can’t add it up in their heads.

Sometimes dreams even come true.

Let us introduce you to Skyler Champion, who wears jersey No. 1 for the Foothill High Knights football team. He is a senior running back who had gained 681 yards this season.

Until Thursday night.

On Thursday night, in front of a few hundred fans at Fred Kelly Stadium in Orange, where two winless teams were expected to play listless football near the end of desolate seasons, Champion ran through holes as wide as the Grand Canyon. Whichever way Champion was going, it seemed as if the football field was tilting downhill.

Champion, 6 feet tall, 210 pounds, gained 527 yards in 21 carries. This means Champion averaged 25.1 yards every time he ran with the football.

This is the Orange County single-game rushing record. The record had been 422 yards, set by Paul Caffrey of Heritage Christian in 1997. Champion remembered reading about that record when he was a sophomore at Foothill, before knee and ankle injuries cost him a big chunk of his junior year and before this senior season began unfolding as a dreadful disappointment, at least as far as team goals go.

As the game against Orange, another 0-8 team, had turned into a rout--the final score was 46-12 in favor of Foothill--Champion left early in the fourth quarter after his final carry, a 71-yard gain fashioned mostly on his own since, by that time, the Knights had put in their second-string linemen.

It might have been possible Champion could have challenged the Southern Section record of 619 yards gained by Oxnard Hueneme’s Rodney Jenkins in 1995. But, really, honestly, this one record is enough glory, enough joy, enough accomplishment for one boy on one team in one season.

“This still doesn’t seem real,” Champion said Friday afternoon. He slept very little Thursday night and attended Friday’s classes but absorbed very little, quite rightly.

The Thursday night celebration consisted of pizza and a review of the game tape at a Lamppost Pizza in Tustin, and then some restless, ecstatic sleep after 1 a.m.

Friday afternoon, Champion, son of Lisa Champion, landscape artist, and Mike Champion, real estate appraiser and onetime second baseman for the San Diego Padres, and brother of Autumn Champion, Foothill sophomore and, according to Skyler, the best softball player in the family, was being hugged and slapped and patted and congratulated. When the film was shown to the team, the cheering was raucous. As he sat in Coach Casey Mazzotta’s office, Champion watched the game film again.

There was the first rush of the game, an innocuous four-yard gain, then another scramble for seven or eight yards to the Foothill 21. Nothing spectacular. Nothing record-setting.

Then came the third carry. Champion’s blockers were flattening defenders left and right. He took the ball and saw only green grass and white-chalk yard lines. And then he saw the end zone, free and clear and empty. The touchdown run, the first of five, was for 79 yards. And then it seemed as if Champion just kept on running.

By halftime, he had 360 yards and, Champion said, “I was tired.”

Champ Outpaced Old Injuries

This was all such a dream sequence but also the way his career was supposed to be. As a sophomore, Champion had gained 1,086 yards. He was a strong, aggressive runner with good, reliable hands and a certain feel for the game.

But last year, Champion carried the ball only 53 times and gained 366 yards. In the season’s second game, against Woodbridge, Champion twisted his right knee. There were strained ligaments in both his knee and ankle, and never again last year was Champion able to run well and without pain.

At the start of this season, Champion had spoken optimistically of Foothill’s challenging for the Century League title and a playoff spot, but the defense was young and injuries struck.

Mazzotta says, wistfully, how hard it has been watching his offense average around 30 points a game and yet win none of them.

Until Thursday.

It had been a difficult week of practice. In Foothill’s last game, the Knights had blown a 28-10 fourth-quarter lead and lost to Santa Ana Valley. A heartbreaker, Mazzotta said, a spirit killer.

“What do you play for?” Mazzotta said. “That was the question all week. The whole team was so down after the Valley game, I can’t tell you. That game was so emotionally draining.

“I’ll tell you. This game, it couldn’t have come at a better time. The kids had a whole lot of fun. There were smiles on everyone’s faces.”

So modest is Champion that he would take no credit.

He was able to list the names of all his offensive teammates. List them and spell them. “The line, Eric Eastman, David Torres . . . T-O-R-R-E-S, Chris Oakes, David Liti . . . L-I-T-I, Craig Goldberg. The tight end is Daniel Massey. Robert Garey and Mike Mooney are the fullbacks. The receivers did a great job blocking downfield, Paul Czaykowski, Mike Whiddon. Auskia Carroll and Mike Brittingham.”

“He spelled Czaykowski?” Mazzotta said, astounded. “Wow.”

Champion had just changed from a T-shirt into his Foothill jersey. The letters were hanging half on, and there were holes all over the shirt, which had been patched. It has been a tough year, obviously.

“This was just uplifting for the whole team,” Lisa Champion, Skyler’s mom, said. Lisa and Mike, Skyler’s dad, are divorced. Mike wasn’t at the game Thursday, but Skyler’s grandmother, two aunts, two uncles and two uncles-in-law were there. Autumn was on the sidelines.

Lisa, a Foothill cheerleader, class of 1973, said Skyler is “absolutely in seventh heaven. He hasn’t eaten, he hasn’t slept. But, you know what? We all went and watched the film at the pizza place and everybody on that team found something great that they had done. That’s what is so neat. These kids have all worked so hard this year and, finally, something great has happened.”

Skyler was named Skyler because Lisa, who was a preschool teacher before Skyler was born, had been entranced by a blonde-haired, blue-eyed toddler named Skyler. When Skyler was born with blond hair and blue eyes, he had his name.

Friday night, Skyler wanted to watch the Orange County game of the week between El Toro and Mission Viejo on TV.

College is in his future, Skyler hopes. He also plays baseball. He’s a second baseman, like his dad. After his injury last year, Skyler hasn’t been swamped by college recruiters. Mazzotta thinks that, in the right place, Champion could be a Division I player. There had been some interest from Air Force last year and San Diego this year. Earlier this week, Champion had spoken to coaches at Saddleback College.

After the news gets out about his 527 yards, though, Champion’s phone should ring. Loudly and often.

Diane Pucin can be reached at her e-mail address: diane.pucin@latimes.com.