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Foundation Academy Lions steamroll HCA, 69-30

FOOTBALL

Photo by JOE DiCRISTOFALO

HCA senior tailback Jeremy Knight was one of the bright spots FRiday night at Brooksville's ERnie WEver Youth Park. Though HCA fell to Foundation Academy, 69-30, Knights rushed for a season-high 251 yards and tallied his 9th and 10th touchdowns of the season.

By MARTY MILLER

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: October 23, 2009

Maybe what happened on the first play that Foundation Academy ran Friday night against Hernando Christian Academy foretold what kind of night it would be as it beat HCA, 69-30.
Foundation scored a touchdown on the first play of the game, which caused HCA Head Coach David Raley to say later, "All we could do on the sidelines was say, 'Oh my goodness.'"
Although HCA senior running back Jeremy Knight ran for 251 yards and scored two touchdowns and tacked on a pair of two-point conversions, Foundation simply had more talent than the Hernando County club as it led 62-6 at halftime.
"They were really good," said Raley about the 5-2 Winter Garden squad. "They had a couple of kids who were as good as anybody I've ever seen. I heard someone say they may be major college recruits, but my boys just simply couldn't touch them."
With a running clock the entire second half, Foundation got back some measure of revenge from last year's game when HCA beat it, 60-20.
Besides the touchdown runs from Knight which were from 10 and 21 yards, the 0-8 Lions received a 57-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Connor Yann to Dakota D'Ambrosio, a 1-yard sneak from Yann and a safety when a Foundation snap went through the end zone. Yann's TD pass was his first ever at the varsity level.
"Offensively, we weren't bad," said Raley. "Our offense is just clicking along. We just couldn't tackle anyone."
But Raley also said he was happy about the way his team played Friday, despite the margin of defeat.
"These kids are awesome, but it's tough when your defense can't lay a hand on the other team's offense," admitted Raley, the third-year mentor. "I'm leaving here tonight loving these kids even more after this game. They played hard and they didn't give up."