Coronado dominates Foothill, 34-7

The first play of the game Friday could not have gone worse for the Coronado football team as the Cougars allowed an 80-yard touchdown pass.

The other 58 plays that the Cougars defense was on the field went much smoother.

Coronado forced four turnovers, including a key fumble return for a touchdown by Myles Holland, and Nick Trejo rushed for 234 yards and two touchdowns in the No. 8 Cougars’ 34-7 victory over host Foothill.

The win gives Coronado (5-3, 2-1 Southeast League) the inside track to a home playoff game and knocks the No. 10 Falcons (4-4, 2-1) out of a tie for first place in the league.

“We knew it was going to be a tough football game,” Coronado coach Brad Talich said. “Those defensive kids have been playing in the system for three years, so they understand it’s a long football game and we can bounce back from mistakes.”

Spencer Cofer finished 10-for-13 for 115 yards — he completed nine straight passes at one point — and a touchdown for the Cougars. Cofer connected with Travis Boman for a 74-yard score on Coronado’s first play after the Falcons went ahead 7-0 on Aedan Bartolowitz’s long TD reception on the opening play.

Cofer booted a 51-yard field goal in the first quarter and added a 29-yarder midway through the third quarter to put Coronado on top 20-7. The Falcons responded with their best drive of the night and had a fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line with a chance to make it a one-touchdown game, but Devon Mueller’s pass sailed over Bartolowitz’s head in the back of the end zone.

Coronado then put away the game with a 16-play, 92-yard drive that chewed up nearly eight minutes off the clock. Trejo carried 10 times for 69 yards on the drive and capped it off with a 15-yard touchdown run with 4:12 remaining in the game.

“It was a little nerve-wracking there in the third quarter,” Talich said. “In playing good football teams, you’ve got to stay patient with the run game, and that’s kind of what we did on that drive. We’ve got to run the football to win going down into the playoffs and against good teams like Foothill.”

Trejo, who had 182 yards in the second half, added a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:51 left to put the Cougars up 34-7.

“He had a special night tonight,” Talich said. “And you’ve got to hand it to those kids up front, too, because that’s what makes things go.”

Foothill was limited to 169 total yards after Bartolowitz’s catch-and-run down the right sideline for the opening score. Mueller was 8-for-22 for 151 yards with one TD and one interception.

Coronado’s defense made its biggest play in the second quarter as linebacker Kainoa Granstrom had one of the Cougars’ two sacks and forced a fumble in the process. Holland grabbed the ball at the 1-yard line and dived into the end zone to give Coronado a 17-7 lead with 8:04 left until halftime.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.