SAN LEANDRO — All night time, Greg Haubner drew up performs to get the ball to his star extensive receiver. Nothing was working.
Foothill was knotted in a scoreless tie towards San Leandro at halftime and traded touchdowns early within the second half. The assembly of a pair of packages on the rise was a knock-down, drag-out affair that appeared to don’t have any finish in sight.
Then, Max Shuga declared ball.
“Two words: That’s mine,” the junior receiver mentioned after he leaped over his defender, hauled in a 21-yard acquire from junior quarterback Gavin Brown and arrange the decisive rating with lower than 2 minutes to go in Foothill’s eventual 14-7 win.
“After that, it’s like, you know we’re winning this game,” Haubner, in his eighth season teaching the Falcons (3-1), mentioned. “That’s got to be an all-timer, one that I’ll never forget as long as I coach. You can’t make that play and lose.”
The catch, on fourth and 4, put Foothill on San Leandro’s 5-yard line, and junior working again Amaree Hill powered in his second rating of the night on the subsequent play. Nonetheless, issues weren’t so sure.
Foothill started its earlier drive within the crimson zone courtesy of a botched punt and confronted a fourth-and-1 scenario from the 6-yard line. Slightly than name on his dependable kicker for a chip shot that will have put Foothill in entrance, Haubner dialed up a run for Hill, who was stuffed, and the Falcons gave the ball again to San Leandro.
After the landing, the Pirates (3-1) acquired the ball again with 1:34 remaining and threatened to ship it to extra time. Sophomore quarterback Devin Martinez led them throughout midfield, however their closing drive fell sufferer to the identical enemy that ended the 2 earlier than it.
Jayce Cardera, a senior security, wrapped up Martinez 10 yards behind the road of scrimmage on third and 9, and the Pirates couldn’t overcome the fourth-and-long scenario. Cardera additionally tipped Martinez’s cross on third down of their earlier drive, establishing the game-winning rating, and sacked Martinez on third down to finish the drive earlier than that.
“The kid has continued to improve and make himself better,” Haubner mentioned of Cardera. “He’s just one of those stories of high school football of a guy that’s an overachiever. That’s one of the reasons I coach, to coach kids like that.”
Looking for its first profitable season since 2021, San Leandro started the yr 3-0 behind the energy of its two-headed dashing assault however was compelled to play with out its prime working again, Jaymieon Bradley, who was dominated out with a thigh bruise.
Foothill, which hasn’t completed above .500 since 2022, was additionally at lower than full energy after its workhorse working again, Dylan Souza, left injured late within the first half. The senior carried the ball 10 occasions for 50 yards within the first half earlier than he tweaked his hamstring that had bothered him to start the season.
Hill stepped up with 38 yards on 12 carries — all within the second half — for the Falcons, who additionally acquired 152 yards passing from the 2 juniors who break up snaps at quarterback, Brown (who performed the second and fourth quarters) and Andrew Nelson (who performed the primary and third). Tack on one other 22 yards for senior working again Osmar Calderon, who discovered Yohan Du for an extended connection on a faux handoff that helped put them in place to attain the sport’s first landing, nearly midway by means of the third quarter.
“They did a lot of things to try to neutralize our speed and keep the ball out of our hands,” San Leandro coach Brad Bowers mentioned. “They did a great job of it. We just couldn’t execute when we needed to. Couldn’t move the ball when we needed to. It just gave them more opportunities and more hope. When you give a team hope and let them stick around, they can take advantage of it.”
Hope like the type that manifests with the soccer and its supposed goal suspended in midair?
“Exactly, absolutely, yes,” Bowers mentioned. “And it was a phenomenal catch.”
Whereas Foothill took a blowout loss to Monte Vista in Week 1, the Falcons have reeled off three consecutive wins since. San Leandro had began the season 3-0, however Bowers urged the early success acquired in his staff’s head.
“I think we took that for granted a little bit and played down early in the game, didn’t play our brand of football,” he mentioned. “Our defense is legit. There’s a lot of fire on the defensive side. We’re trying to find that same fire on the offensive side.”
