Fresno City Football team lost in overtime against Foothill 42 – 36 in the Silicon Valley Bowl on Saturday.
“It was a game that could have gone either way. That is what bowl games are about,” the Rams head coach Tony Caviglia said. He also said that it was a very exciting game, and that his team played their heart out, and he is proud of their performance.
Foothill scored on their first drive of the game when quarterback, Dante Perez threw a 17 yard pass to Wide Receiver, Chris Evering, who was wide open in the end zone.
Rams running back, Kenny Hedrington, ran 18 yards to the 10 yard line to help set the Rams for their first score.
A few plays later Hedrington was walloped by a blitzing cornerback, Donte Almond, neither player were injured on the play.
Almond’s big play set the Rams back two yards. On third and goal from the six, Emmanuel Lewis overthrew his receiver in the end zone, forcing the Rams to settle with a field goal.
The Rams caught Foothill sleeping at the wheel on the insuring kickoff, as they recovered their onside kick on Foothills 42 yard line.
The series ended with fullback Dan Haycock barreling in to the end zone from the one yard line to make the score 10-7.
FCC went up 16-7 when John P. Romeus intercepted a Foothill pass. He then ran the ball back 30 yards for a score.
It took the Owls one offensive play to make up for the Romeus intersection for a score.
Perez threw a 40 yard pass Evering to make 16-14 with less than two minutes left until halftime.
Foothill went up 21-16 early in the third quarter, but FCC fought back and regained the lead by the fourth quarter.
The Rams eventually caught up, and pulled ahead on the 29-21 Owls but that lead was short lived.
The Owls scored two touchdowns, and one two point conversion in the span of 16 seconds.
Their first score was a three yard pass that concluded with a successful two point conversion. The second came when Foothill’s Jake Richardson recovered a fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and, returned it for a score.
The Rams were down at that point 36 -29
The Rams tied the game with an end around play as wide receiver Roddrick Hall hustled his way into the end zone to force the game into overtime.
The Rams received the ball first in overtime and did not score. Their drive ended when Lewis threw an interception.
The Owls took possession of the ball, and ran the ball in from the four yard line to win the game.
FCC’s loss to Foothill was Caviglia’s fifth straight post season lost. They are currently 1-9 in the post season. That victory in the 2003 Producers Dairy Bowl in a 44-23 against Allen Hancock
Caviglia said, “A lot of teams wish they could have played in post season. We haven’t been able to win, but we went to 10 straight bowl games with this coaching staff.”
