SAN RAMON, CA - In one of the East Bay’s most highly anticipated games of the season, the host California Grizzlies defeated the Foothill Falcons 24-7.
Cal (5-1, 3-0) capped off its victory with a 5-yard touchdown run from fullback Simi Hingano with 4:28 remaining in the third quarter to give it a 24-7 lead. Cal’s offense was led by dual-threat quarterback Cameron Owen. He completed 7-of-9 passes for 95 yards while also adding 21 yards rushing on 4 carries.
“I felt it was a good all-around effort,” Owen said, “It was definitely two-sided with run and pass, it was equally distributed.”
Hingano powered his way to 76 yards and two touchdowns.
Teammate Blake Bierwith, a Brown commit, wasn’t the focal point of the Grizzlies' offense this week, an anomaly from previous weeks, but he still carried a large load of their offense, closing out the day with 19 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown run came from nine yards out to tie the game 7-7.
The Grizzlies' defense played well, holding Foothill’s four-star quarterback Kyle Kearns to 5-of-14 passing for 169 yards and one touchdown.
“Defense was big time, and the secondary,” Owen said. “We had a huge emphasis on the secondary and they shut (the Falcons) down.”
Although this was a night to forget for Foothill players and supporters, they did manage to keep pace with a physical Cal squad in the first quarter as the teams were tied 7-7 through one quarter.
“We played pretty good in the first half,” said junior Isaiah Langley. “They started pulling away and started eating the clock away and the game slipped out of our hands.”
Langley accounted for 63 rushing yards on nine carries while also getting some snaps at quarterback out of the wildcat formation.
However, Foothill (6-1, 2-1) struggled to stop the Grizzlies' relentless running attack.
“I think we could improve on our defense,” Langley said. “We had plenty of stops. We stopped them on second and third down but it was a matter of getting off the field on fourth down. They (Cal) did a great job of going on fourth down. We’ve got to learn how to get off the field.”
Foothill got off to a quick start and made this appear as if it would be a high-scoring affair. Kearns connected with running back Jamirr Holland for an 85-yard touchdown on its third play from scrimmage to give Foothill a 7-0 lead with 11:09 left in the first quarter.
This was a much-needed victory for Cal in its hopes to compete for a league title. Foothill was emerging as the league’s front-runner, but with the victory, Cal is now tied with San Ramon Valley for first place.
“It feels amazing,” said fullback Simi Hingano. “Big win for our seniors and this meant a lot to them. It feels good. All our hard work that we put in is showing out on the field.”
