PLEASANTON, CA - Behind a monstrous performance from 5-star running back Joe Mixon, the No. 10-seeded Freedom Falcons got revenge, and destroyed the No. 7 seeded Foothill Falcons 55-17 on Saturday night in Pleasanton.
“You know we just played well, our team came out hard,” said Mixon. “We came out to play, they underestimated us and we handed it to them.”
Mixon, who currently holds 51 college offers, made everything look as if he was already a collegiate athlete rushing for 292 yards and 7 touchdowns on 21 carries, with 5 touchdowns coming in the first half. His 19-yard touchdown run with 1:26 left in the first quarter gave Freedom the lead for good as it was 13-7 after a botched extra point.
Since receiving 50-plus college offers, Mixon has narrowed down his list to Cal, Florida State, Oklahoma, UCLA, Washington and Wisconsin.
The five touchdown runs for Mixon in the first half were 4, 19, 1, 1 and 80 yards; he ran for 223 yards on 19 carries before halftime.
In running for seven TDs, Mixon eclipsed his season best of six against Castro Valley in a 49-21 victory in September.
Last time Freedom faced Foothill was in Oakley, when Foothill came out on top 32-6, but Freedom got the payback they needed and more.
Fredom held junior 4-star quarterback Kyle Kearns to 13-of-25 passing for 132 yards and two touchdowns along with an interception, which sailed into the hands of senior Aaron Mullins with 4:47 in the second quarter when Freedom had a 20-7 lead. Five plays later, Mixon walked in from one yard out to give Freedom a 27-7 lead with 2:38 remaining in the half.
Foothill came back with a score of its own, as kicker Dan Rodriguez narrowly made the 35-yard field goal to cut the Freedom lead to 27-10, but on the very next play, Mixon broke off multiple Foothill tackles en route to the 80-yard touchdown to give Freedom a 34-10 lead, and the rout was on.
Kearns’ touchdown throws consisted of seven yards to senior Ryan Anderson to tie the game 7-7 early in the first quarter, and 29 yards to junior Isaiah Langley to cut the Freedom lead to 48-17 with 28.9 seconds remaining in the third.
Despite the loss, this was another worthy season for Foothill’s program as it finished overall (including the playoffs) and in third place in the East Bay Athletic League standings. This marked Foothill’s 12th post-season appearance since 2001.
Freedom gets a rematch with Pittsburg on Friday night in the quarterfinals in what is considered one of the fiercest East Bay rivalries in the last few years. Freedom beat Pittsburg last year 49-48 to win the Bay Valley Athletic League title, but Pittsburg came out on top on October 25 34-13 en route to the league title this year.
“It’s a revenge week,” Mixon said. “We just have to prepare for them like we did for Foothill. Just have to come out and do it next week.”
