Late Score Leads Foothill Over Eagles

For the second week in a row, Foothill pulled off the unexpected. Quarterback Steve Wielandt’s 73-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes 14 seconds remaining lifted the Knights to a 35-28 victory over Santa Margarita in a Division IV quarterfinal Friday at Tustin High.

Foothill meets Irvine, a 27-0 winner over El Modena, in the semifinals next week. The Knights, who finished 2-7-1 last year and hadn’t made the playoffs for the past four years, will be making their first trip to the semifinals in nine years.

The victory comes one week after the Knights knocked off third-seeded Riverside Poly.

Wielandt, who rushed for a season-high 190 yards and three touchdowns in 20 carries, broke a 28-28 tie when he ran around right end to score the winning touchdown. Santa Margarita (9-3) got two possessions in the final three minutes, but never made it past midfield.

“People don’t realize what you can do if you put your nose to the grindstone,” Foothill Coach Tom Meiss said. “I thought whoever had the ball last would win. Thankfully I was wrong.”

The Eagles couldn’t stop Foothill, which finished with a season-high 397 yards rushing and 453 yards total offense. Wielandt and tailback Ethan Taub, who finished with 175 yards and a touchdown in 25 carries, combined for 421 yards of the Knights’ total offense.

Santa Margarita led, 14-10, at halftime after Wielandt came within a foot of scoring a go-ahead touchdown as time ran out to end the half. But in the third quarter, Jason Vlcek’s 36-yard field goal pulled the Knights (8-4) to within 14-13, before Wielandt’s nine-yard run gave the Knights a 21-14 lead they never relinquished.

The Eagles (9-3) trailed when quarterback Sean O’Brien hit Brian Finneran with a nine-yard touchdown pass with 11:24 left in the game. Taub’s four-yard run with 7:39 left gave Foothill a 28-21 lead, but Santa Margarita tied it again when O’Brien hit Kevin Duffy with a 10-yard touchdown pass with 3:47 left.

SM--Tiernan 17 run (Korinke kick)

FH--Wielandt 1 run (Vlcek kick)

SM--Duffy 18 pass from O’Brien (Korinke kick)

FH--Vlcek FG 37

FH--Vlcek FG 36

FH--Wielandt 9 run (Taub pass from Wielandt)

SM--Brian Finneran 9 pass from O’Brien (Korinke kick)

FH--Taub 4 run (Vlcek kick)

SM--Duffy 10 pass from O’Brien (Korinke kick)

FH--Wielandt 73 run (Vlcek kick)

LEADING RUSHERS--S: Tiernan 13-102; F: Wielandt 20-190; LEADING PASSERS--S: O’Brien 14-31-0, 171; F: Wielandt 2-6-0, 56; LEADING RECEIVERS--S: Brian Finneran 5-84; F: Bower 1-31.

Attendance--2,800