TUSTIN – This is what a rivalry game is supposed to be.
A back-and-forth second half ended dramatically, on a missed field goal that got Foothill a 36-35 win over Tustin on Friday in a neighborhood football matchup at Northrup Field, the home field for both teams and on this night a home game for Foothill, on the Tustin High campus.
Tustin, No. 22 in the Orange County Top 25, is 2-0. No. 17 Foothill is 1-1. Foothill leads the Foothill-Tustin series 33-26-2.
Tustin took the lead with 5:12 to go when junior running back Eimesse Essis scored on a 22-yard run and senior back Mackenzie Alleyne took a pitchout for the two-point conversion that put the Tillers on top 36-35.
After a failed fourth-down try by Tustin gave the Knights the ball at the Tillers 29-yard line, Foothill, with 22 seconds to go, tried a 38-yard field goal that missed, leaving Tustin with its 36-35 lead.
Essis (5-8, 165), with speed and elusiveness, rushed for 238 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Alleyne scored two touchdowns and scored on two two-point conversions.
Foothills senior running back Aaron Mitchell rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. Knights 6-6 senior quarterback Nicholas Miali threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
Foothill scored first. Knights linebacker Preston Raymond, only a couple of yards behind the line of scrimmage, snagged a tipped pass and ran 52 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
The Knights scored quickly, again, on their second possession. Mitchell took a handoff and, shedding two tackles on the way, ran 70 yards for the touchdown that made it 14-0.
Tustin got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter. Alleyne took the direct snap in the wildcat formation and followed 320-pound freshman Jeremiah Williams (who would later be helped off of the field with a knee injury) through a hole on the right side of the line. The kick failed, leaving the score at 14-6.
Foothill expanded its lead to 21-6 on a 56-yard touchdown pass from…
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