PLEASANTON, CA - In another relatively close game in East Bay Athletic League play, the host Foothill Falcons managed to come out on top 31-21 over Granada, backed by strong performances from juniors Kyle Kearns and Isaiah Langley.
Langley ended the back-and-forth contest with his electrifying 36 yard touchdown run with 3:55 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Foothill a 31-21 lead after breaking multiple tackles on his way to the end zone. His performance was dual-threat, closing out the night with 73 rushing yards and 82 yards receiving. The effort capped off a great week for him as was received his third scholarship offer, this one from UCLA, on Thursday.
“It was pretty strong,” Langley said about his performance. “Despite my cramps, I played for my other guys on the field. I didn’t look at the scoreboard, I just knew that we needed the big plays.”
The start of the evening, however, was the most exciting. Foothill scored on its opening possession on an eight yard touchdown run from running back Jamirr Holland, but what happened next made this become one of the more exciting games in the East Bay. Senior Oregon baseball commit Casey Soltis batted the ensuing kickoff down to prevent a touchback, and then ran 99 yards for a score to tie the game 7-7 with 8:29 remaining in the first quarter.
Soltis was a menace on special teams for the Matadors. Along with the kickoff return for a touchdown, he also blocked a field goal midway in the first quarter, and returned the block 59 yards down to the Falcons 22 yard line. However, the Matadors didn't score as junior kicker Matt Dreamalas missed the 36 yard field goal. Soltis’ efforts were enough to give Granada that elusive fifth victory.
Along with Soltis, senior receiver Josh Revay had a relatively strong performance. Revay finished with 53 yards on four catches with a touchdown early in the second half to tie the game 14-14.
Despite throwing an interception and a few inaccurate throws, quarterback Tyler Offill had multiple big carries. Even though he isn’t known for his dual-threat capabilities, he had multiple carries, with his longest run being 17 yards. He also completed 8-of-17 passes for 92 yards and one touchdown.
Kearns had another strong night completing 19-of-31 throws for 280 yards, but he believed there is still room for improvement.
“I thought that I missed a couple opportunities here and there, but we got the W and that’s all that matters," he said.
Along with Langley, Kearns heavily targeted senior Ryan Anderson a lot, as Anderson finished with 138 yards receiving on eight catches.
Running back Jamirr Holland was a spark plug for the Falcons offense early on. He ran for 36 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half on seven carries, but after suffering an apparent ankle injury requiring ice, he got just one carry after halftime.
Fullback Matt Luey also rushed for 31 yards, including a three yard touchdown run to give Foothill the lead for good 24-21 with just under 7:55 remaining.
Two weeks before, Foothill suffered a 24-7 loss to Cal, which clinched at least a share of the EBAL Friday night after beating San Ramon Valley. That was a big loss for Foothill, but it has since moved on and allowed that loss not to haunt itself.
“It’s just the short-term memory we had,” said Langley. “Two weeks to bounce back from that Cal loss and we really didn’t play clean in the first half, but we just had to play with short-term (memory) and get the W.”
But even after losing to Cal, if Foothill manages to beat San Ramon Valley on the road next week and if Cal falls to Livermore, that would force a three-way tie atop the league, and could give Foothill a share of the league title.
“SRV is going to be tough,” said Kearns. “That team is good. The margin for error against that team is small and we have to play very solid and play a very good game against them.”
