FOOTBALL: Cardiac Owls Win Again

The Score: Foothill 34, Santa Rosa 26.

The Star: The Foothill secondary had three interceptions, all in the second half. Robert Fiscalini had two interceptions, and Erwin Taliaoa returned his interception for a touchdown shortly after he scored on a fourth-quarter kick return.

The Turning Point: Foothill cornerback Erwin Taliaoa scored on a kickoff return and an interception return 46 seconds apart as the visiting Owls finally pulled away from Santa Rosa with 2:35 left in the game.

The Quote: "It happened so quick that I already forgot about the interception return. I'm just excited to get one." —Foothill cornerback Erwin Taliaoa, when asked about his second touchdown in a 46-second span.

What's Next? Foothill looks to pull into a tie for the NorCal Conference lead when it hosts first-place CCSF on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. CCSF throttled CSM 33-0 on Saturday. Then Foothill plays Butte College on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. in Oroville.

The Bottom Line: The Owls can breathe a sigh of relief after hanging on to beat Santa Rosa. Now the really hard work begins. The cardiac kids will have to play a solid four quarters each game from here on out to beat CCSF and Butte College.

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SANTA ROSA—They call it the "Foothill 60."

Slow starts, quick scores, turnovers, late fourth-quarter touchdowns and a never say-die-mentality have defined the Foothill College football team all season.

Saturday was no different, as the Owls took advantage of seven takeaways and a pair of timely scores to win 34-26 at Santa Rosa in another hard-fought NorCal Conference matchup.

Foothill's Erwin Taliaoa provided the timely touchdowns 46 seconds apart with a 36-yard kickoff return off an onside kick and then a 59-yard interception return with 2:35 left in the game.

"The ball came to me perfectly on the first or second hop, and I just saw that opening and took off," said Taliaoa, who at first thought about just falling on the onside kick. "They we're just kind of surprised when I split that crease and ran to the end zone."

The freshman cornerback followed up the first score with a 'pick-six' off Santa Rosa quarterback Jared Hasskamp, who floated a pass to the Owls' sideline that Taliaoa extended his arms up to snag for another dash to the end zone.

When asked about his second touchdown, Taliaoa said: "It happened so quick that I already forgot about the interception return. I'm just excited to get one."

Santa Rosa (3-5, 0-3 NorCal) was stunned, as were the coaches and fans, by the interception return.

"I have not seen that before," said Foothill coach Doug Boyett. "That is why we believe in playing all 60 minutes. We didn't panic in the first half when we shot ourselves in the foot with penalties. We just kept on playing hard."

Foothill (7-1, 2-1) began the game with a drive to Santa Rosa's 10-yard line, but then quarterback Kent London was hit as he released a pass, causing the ball to hang in the air. Santa Rosa's speedy Jason Verrett secured the ball for an interception and ran 99 yards for the score.

Foothill's only score in the first half was a 75-yard fumble return by freshman Mishawn Cummings.

Trailing 13-7 at the break, the Owls awoke from their first-half slumber as the rain began to fall in the third quarter. The visitors took the lead for good at 14-13, scoring on a 1-yard Anthony Watson (21 carries, 87 yards) run to cap a 14-play, 76-yard drive.

Besides the early interception, London (24-of-32 for 188 yards)  played a solid game in place of Calvin Schmidtke, who injured his ankle in a thrilling win at College of San Mateo last week.

"He had great judgement all game," Boyett said of London. "Never gets rattled. And it showed in this game."

Trailing 34-19 after Taliaoa's second score, Santa Rosa quickly drove 76 yards in five plays to score on a 2-yard run by Nick Beauchamp. Santa Rosa's defense then held the Owls, and the hosts made one final push but couldn't get past midfield before time ran out.

"This is just how our games go," said Boyett, whose team beat Santa Rosa 37-26 last season only to lose its final two regular-season games to CCSF and Butte. "It just doesn't surprise me anymore."

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Foothill 34, Santa Rosa 26

F — 7 0 7 20 — 34

SR — 6 7 0 13 — 26

SR — Verrett 99 interception return (kick blocked)

F — Cummings 75 fumble return (Amezquita kick)

SR— Bledsoe 50 pass Ortiz (Sampson kick)

F — Watson 1 run (Amezquita kick)

F — Stewart 3 run (Amezquita failed)

SR — Kamins 1 run (pass failed)

F — Taliaoa 36 kickoff return (Amezquita kick)

F — Taliaoa 59 int return (kick failed)

SR — Beauchamp 2 run (Sampson kick)

RUSHING: Foothill -- Watson 21-87, Stewart 11-47, Nelson 8-22, London 5-2. Totals 45-158.  SR -- Kamins 8-73, Beauchamp 5-8, Bledsoe 10-3, Team 2 (-12). Totals 25-72.

PASSING: Foothill -- London 24-32-1-188.  SR -- Bledsoe 15-28-2-152. Hasskamp 11-16-1-145. Totals 26-44-3-297.

RECEIVING: Foothill -- Reyes 7-63, Hart 6-54, Scott 5-33, Hanks 2-20, Nelson 1-13, Lorius 1-5, Mendoza 1-1, Stewart 1- (-1). Totals 24-188.  SR -- Ortiz 9-132, Richmond 9-90, Garcia 4-56, Bryant 3-18, Kamins 1-1. Totals 26-297.

FUMBLES/LOST: Foothill: 0/0. SR: 5/4

RECORDS: Foothill 7-1, 2-1. Santa Rosa 3-5, 0-3.