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Last year the Foothill varsity football team started the season 2-0 after beating Castro Valley and College Park.
This year the Falcons are 2-0 once more, beating Castro Valley and College Park again to open the season.
The opponent in game three last year is the same this year — Vanden of Fairfield.
For the Falcons, last year’s 34-20 loss to Vanden was the turning point in the season and was the catalyst for the Foothill run to the EBAL Valley Division championship, then a postseason streak that ended up with a spot in the North Coast Section D-II title game.
At halftime of the 2021 Vanden game, the Falcons trailed 28-7 and looked lost on the field.
“We found out in the first half that we couldn’t compete with that team,” Foothill coach Greg Haubner said. “We found out in the second half that we could compete with that team.”
And compete they did, outscoring Vanden 14-7 in the second half, which wasn’t enough to overcome the first-half hole, but more than enough to propel the Falcons to an 8-2 record the rest of the season and runner-up in NCS.
“We found out a lot about who we were and what we could do in that game,” Haubner said.
Now it’s a Foothill team that lost a lot of skill players who earned All-EBAL awards last season that will travel to Vanden tonight.
“(Vanden) is a team that plays at a different speed than we are used to seeing,” Haubner said of the Vikings’ team that has started 3-0. “We have to decide if we can play at that speed.”
Last year was the first time Foothill had played Vanden, and even though the personnel is different for both teams this year, the styles remain the same.
“There is something to be said about having played a school before,” Haubner said. “What is nice is having an idea what you are going to see. Last year, we didn’t do a very good job with the kids on preparing them for what to expect. You must understand all the angles to take when going up against that speed.”
The Falcons will head into the game a bit behind the eight-ball with two-way starter Jackson Chandler out of the game with a knee injury.
Chandler brings a lot of speed to the Foothill offense and defense. Chandler only had 18 touches total the first two games, but had an 80-yard touchdown run as well as two other runs of over 40 yards.
“We’re not that deep this year so having anyone out hurts,” Haubner said.
Amador girls’ water polo
The Dons cruised to a 19-1 win over Granada last week.
Evelyn McLaughlin led the scoring assault with five goals, with Regan Braga adding four goals and Susan Swyers scoring three times. Kate Harris and Erin Brown added two goals each, with Brown’s goals coming from her goalie position.
Olivia Vollgraf and Lily Keegan each had a goal. Swyers added an assist and three steals, with Harris adding three assists and two steals. Brown had 13 saves and added three assists from the goal.
Cavaliers rugby
The Cavaliers, a youth rugby club based in the Tri-Valley, recently competed in an international tournament on Aug. 27-28 in Los Angeles.
The club sent four teams to the event — two women’s high school teams (Lady Cavs), as well as under-12 and under-10 teams.
All teams played well, with the U-12 team remaining unbeaten and the Lady Cavs placing fourth.
“I am so proud of all of our players,” said Ryan Duncan Anderson, the outgoing Cavaliers president and U-12 coach. “There were some tough teams with some incredible athletes, and we hung in there. But what I’m most proud of is the rugby ethos. Our teams showed up, played clean games and exemplified great sportsmanship.”
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
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