Foothill shows speedy recovery from opening loss

Last week Foothill got a lesson in speed in a season-opening 49-14 drubbing at the hands of Fountain Valley (Calif.) High School.

This week the Falcons got a chance to do their own Usain Bolt impersonation in a 28-6 win over Cimarron-Memorial.

“We knew we saw a lot of speed last week,” said fourth-year coach Marty Redmond. “We emphasized our defense playing a lot faster and more physical this week.”

It paid off as Foothill (1-1) controlled the game on both sides of the ball and limited Cimarron speedster tailback Stephen Nixon to a lone touchdown in the second quarter.

“We knew the Nixon kid was the fastest kid in Nevada,” claimed Redmond. “We knew we had to contain him and we did a good job of that all night.” 

The host Falcons blew open a scoreless game with three second-quarter touchdowns, including two short TD runs by senior tailback Algernon Sewell. He finished the game with 152 yards on 27 carries.

“He ran the ball real hard and got a lot of second-effort yards,” said Redmond. “We were happy he could carry the load for us when we needed him.”

Quarterback Aaron Dupin had a big hand in the scoring as well, connecting on 9 of 16 passes and two touchdown passes, including a 51-yard bomb to wideout Terrance Walls.

Dupin sealed the victory at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a 5-yard pass touchdown pass to tight end Robert Aday. Sewell had opened the quarter by converting a fourth-and-two at the Cimarron 10-yard line.

Sophomore wide receiver Connor Afoa also provided a spark with three carries from scrimmage for 41 yards and a would-be 71-yard touchdown on a punt return  that was called back because of an illegal block.

Cimarron’s passing game was stalled by the Foothill defense as well. The Spartans’ quarterback tandem of Cody Clark and Kenneth Banks combined for just 3-for-14 passing and 31 yards.

After last week’s debacle, Redmond was pleased with the way his team rebounded against the Spartans.

“They didn’t look as nervous this week,” he said. “They just came out and played and knew their assignments.”