LA MESA – The parents gathered at midfield like kids around a Christmas tree brimming with gifts. This was not something that they, nor anyone else associated with the Foothills Christian football program, had ever seen – a playoff victory.
Moments after last night's 34-20 score became final, family and friends of the Knights formed a circle around coach Steve Perdue, who was giving his postgame talk at Junior Seau Park.
For the 23 players on the Foothills Christian team, the San Diego Section Division V first-round win over visiting Holtville was meant to be shared and savored.
Having family members come onto the field after the game is a tradition Perdue started this year to help the team grow closer. Maybe it worked. Last season, with only 14 players, Foothills finished 3-6. Now the Knights are 10-1 and looking to upset No. 2 seed Christian next week.
“It's a pioneering (feeling) to be a part of the first team to do this,” junior quarterback/kicker Garret Campbell said. “We're all just one big family, basically.”
The Knights, in their third year of 11-man football, carried the momentum of a Southern League title into last night's game. It was obvious that the running attack was working from the start, so they stuck with it.
Caleb Gardner got the scoring started with a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
After a Vikings (5-6, 4-2 Desert) touchdown, Gardner found the end zone once more in the quarter, giving Foothills a 14-6 lead at the half. He finished with 151 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries.
“I'm just feeling the joy,” said Gardner, a junior. “We played four quarters of smash-mouth football. The other team brought it; we just brought it harder.”
The ground game worked well for both teams. Gardner's Holtville counterpart, junior Stephen Padilla, racked up 144 yards, most of which came on a 74-yard, fourth-quarter run. Campbell didn't score an offensive touchdown but ran for 140 yards on 14 attempts.
Campbell next booted a 30-yard field goal to make it 17-6. The Vikings answered with a 28-yard pass from junior Benji Angulo to Angel Tellez, their second such connection of the night.
Angulo, filling in for injured starter Sammy Nelson, was 7-of-11 for 132 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Knights scored two more touchdowns in the third and added a field goal in the fourth to give them a commanding 34-12 lead. Angulo later had a 1-yard touchdown run, but Holtville, which traveled 115 miles for the game, was unable to answer.
