TUSTIN — Foothill coach Doug Case wanted a storybook ending to his 25-season tenure as the team’s head coach, but the Knights fell just short in a 27-24 loss to Palos Verdes in the CIF-SS Division 5 football semifinals Friday at Tustin High.

Several alumni attended the game to support Case and Foothill (7-6) in its quest to play for a CIF championship for the first time since 2002.

Foothill head football coach Doug Case coaches his last game, before retirement, during the Knights’ CIF-SS Division 5 semifinal loss to Palos Verdes on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Contributing Photographer)

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“It was amazing. Amazing game, amazing journey,” Case said. “Obviously we wanted a storybook ending but it doesn’t always happen that way. I told the kids to be proud and not hang their heads. It’s another great year and we made a run as far as we could get.”

Case is tied for eighth in county history with 219 wins during his time as the head coach at Foothill and Rancho Alamitos.

Palos Verdes (8-5) will be the home team against La Serna in the Division 5 championship game. The Sea Kings most recently played for a CIF championship in 2018 and most recently won a title in 2012.

Foothill led 24-20 with just over four minutes remaining in the game. Palos Verdes quarterback Ryan Rakowski led the Sea Kings on a 55-yard scoring drive that ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Marley Boyd to take a 27-24 lead with 1:05 left in the game.

Palos Verdes faced a third-and-10 and appeared to jump offsides, but the officials ruled that a Foothill defensive player was calling out the snap count and called an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to extend the drive.

“We thought they were calling our cadence earlier and we got called offsides and had to punt. And they said my guy was calling their cadence and gave them 15 yards,” Case said. “I don’t want to sound like sour grapes, but that was a crucial penalty right at the end.”

Foothill drove to the Palos Verdes 29-yard line, but the Sea Kings got a sack as time expired to end the game.

“We battled back and forth, two evenly matched teams. They (Palos Verdes) got down and did a great job,” Case said. “Our kids battled all year long and I couldn’t have asked for any more from them.”

Rakowski hurt Foothill all game with his arm and his legs. The sophomore threw for 244 yards with three touchdowns and ran for 87 yards with a touchdown.

“He’s been like that all year,” Case said of Rakowski. “We blitzed more tonight than I have all season long. We needed more guys in the box and that isolates our corners and makes it tough to cover.”

Foothill scored first when quarterback Gino Marchetti ran for a 14-yard touchdown to complete a 10-play, 66-yard scoring drive.

Marchetti had two long touchdown passes in the first half: a 38-yard touchdown to Nico Mancini and a 58-yard touchdown to Nathan Gouvion to give the Knights a 21-10 lead at halftime.

The 6-foot-6 quarterback completed 8 of 19 passes for 187 yards with two touchdowns. Gouvion ran for 118 yards and Mancini led the Knights with 68 yards.

Rakowski threw two touchdown passes to Evan Aguirre, one from 50-yards out and one 14-yard score.

Palos Verdes kicker Dylan Freebury made two field goals including a 46-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

Preston Smith had an interception for Foothill’s defense which led to the opening scoring drive. Caleb De La Trinidad had two sacks for Foothill and Matt Claytor Johnson added a sack.

Colton Thorne made a 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for Foothill.

Foothill football gives up late TD, falls to Palos Verdes in Division 5 semifinals

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