Foothill Thrashes Fast-Starting Falcons

After a fast start, Santa Ana Valley couldn’t sustain its momentum and fell to Foothill, which erased an early 20-0 deficit and won, 55-20, Friday in a Century League game at Santa Ana Stadium.

The Falcons scored on two first-quarter interception returns for touchdowns by defensive back Larry Collins and led, 13-0, only three minutes into the game.

After the Falcons (4-3, 1-1 in league) limited Foothill to just three yards in the first quarter, Mike Liti, who rushed for a game-high 313 yards in 30 carries and scored five touchdowns, provided the spark to help put the Knights (3-4, 2-0) back in the game.

On the first play of the second quarter, Liti took a pitch and ran 55 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 20-6.

“We had the momentum going into the second half,” Case said. “They got off to a fast start, but we were glad to take them out of their game plan before halftime.”

Liti rushed for 151 yards in 17 carries and two touchdowns as the Knights went on to score 55 consecutive points.

Foothill’s secondary continued to stop the Falcon passing attack, intercepting three James Burgueno passes in the second half and forcing the Falcons to keep the ball on the ground. Ryan Jenkins had two interceptions for the Knights.

Burgueno passed for just 20 yards in the first half and he finished six of 22 for 56 yards.

Foothill quarterback Derek Fitch’s first two pass attempts fell right into the hands of Collins, who returned them 65 and 31 yards for the early 13-0 lead.

Santa Ana Valley running back Junior Iafeta rushed for 70 yards in 20 carries and added a touchdown, which gave Santa Ana Valley a 20-0 lead in the first quarter.

Foothill has scored 90 points in its last two games.