Carson High football drops 56-31 game to Foothill

Carson football hung with Foothill (CA) for a half Friday night, but the explosiveness of Cougar wideout Tyler Carey proved to be too much.

Carey, dawning jersey No. 3, found himself in the end zone seven times over the course of Foothill’s 56-31 win over the Senators at Carson High School.

“He’s a heck-of-a player,” said Carson football coach Blair Roman. “Sometimes you just got to chalk it up and give credit to the opponent there.”

The Foothill senior ended his night with scores of 6, 8, 45, 66, 75, 81 and 54 yards as he gashed his way through numerous areas of the Senator defense and special teams.

Though the Cougars won by 25, it was the end of the first half where Foothill started to separate itself from Carson.

Jackson Kalicki booted a 44-yard field goal to bring the Senators within four, 28-24, with 53 seconds remaining in the opening half.

However, Carey had an immediate response as he took the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for six, putting Foothill up 35-24 heading into the intermission.

Foothill got the ball out of the break and Carson stopped the Cougars on three plays to force a punt and potentially get the ball back.

On the kick, the Senators roughed the Cougar punter, resulting in a first down for Foothill on a 15-yard penalty.

The Cougars took advantage of the fresh set of downs and ultimately found themselves in the end zone on a 23-yard score from Cooper Laloli on an end-around to go up 42-24.

“We stopped them and unfortunately we got a roughing the punter call and that was really the turning point in the game,” said Roman. “Obviously, we’ve got some young guys in the secondary that are learning.”

Foothill went on to post two more touchdowns, taking a 56-24 lead before Keith Price posted the final score for the Senators on a 4-yard scamper.

“Overall, I was so much more happy with the effort this week than the previous two games,” said Roman. “We’ve got something to build on now and I think that’s a real positive takeaway for us.”

Opening half shootout

From the get-go the two teams traded blows in a contest that shaped up to be a shootout from the opening kick.

The Senators opened the contest with a bang as Carson turned a quick drive into six points as Gilbert Polanco-Vasquez, who also wears No. 3, scored from eight yards out.

Carey answered right back with an 8-yard touchdown of his own, but the Senators offense responded in kind.

Bradley Maffei opened the second Senator drive with a long gain on a screen pass before bruising his way down to the 13-yard line on carries inside the tackles.

Polanco-Vasquez capped the drive with a 13-yard run to make it 14-7 Carson, but he wasn’t done.

Foothill jumped in front with two more touchdowns from Carey, but Polanco-Vasquez tied the contest up with a 9-yard score to make it 21-21 with 4:16 left in the half.

Polanco-Vasquez ended the night with nine carries for 65 yards and three scores.

“He gives us a lot of speed on the edge and he gives people problems there,” said Roman. “It was his night to get out there and shine a little bit. He did a great job.”

Heaton potentially out for the season

Carson’s leading tackler, Jeremy Heaton, didn’t play Friday night against Foothill and Roman says he’s not optimistic he will return this season.

Heaton is battling a lower back injury.

“It looks that way,” said Roman of Heaton’s injury being season ending. “That’s a big loss from a leader by example standpoint. ... His health is the most important thing.”

Foothill JV also defeated Carson 22-6 prior to the varsity contest.

UP NEXT: Carson (1-2) will welcome Hug (0-4) to the home turf next Friday on Homecoming.