Monday, November 23, 1998
Freshman decisive factor in victory
FOOTBALL: Foster proves maturity wins games, beats high school
rival
By Jeff Kmiotek
Daily Bruin Staff
When DeShaun Foster and Carson Palmer stepped on the field
Saturday afternoon, it wasn’t the first time the freshman phenoms
had faced off in a big game.
A year ago, Palmer quarterbacked Santa Margarita High School to
a 55-42 win over Foster’s Tustin High in the Division V football
championship-game.
But now, the league changed and so did the result.
Against USC, Foster got his revenge and single-handedly, or
footedly, ran over Palmer’s Trojans, racking up 109 yards and
scoring all four UCLA touchdowns.
Not bad for a true freshman playing in the biggest game of the
season a day after he needed to go to the hospital to treat a case
of strep throat.
Before the game, coach Bob Toledo pulled Foster aside and told
him, "Any time a player gets sick, he has a great game – remember
Michael Jordan?"
Foster must have, because he bulled over the Trojan defense,
stampeding linemen as if they were helpless rodeo clowns.
And while Foster was showing the flashes of greatness he has
displayed all season, Palmer was showing that he was just a
freshman with tons of potential.
Palmer did throw for 252 and a touchdown, but he also had two
interceptions, a fumble and was sacked six times. And more
importantly, his team lost the football game.
"For Foster to come in and score that many times in the biggest
game of the year is excellent. I’m proud of him," said Shawn
Stuart.
"(Foster) is a freshman, but he isn’t a freshman. He’s more
mature. He was sick but he pulled through. He gave it his all and
just played great," added Danny Farmer.
On the other hand, Foster’s high school counterpart struggled at
times, and played like a true freshman is expected to play.
"I felt comfortable out there but it’s hard when you’re
scrambling around. I know I’m inexperienced. Everybody knows that,"
said Palmer.
And everybody knows that Foster dominated in his rematch with
Palmer. In the high school championship game, Foster ran for 378
yards and, like he did against USC, scored all of his team’s
touchdowns – though that time he had six of them. Tustin High only
threw the ball twice, and one pass was to Foster, who also played
nearly every defensive down as a safety. But Foster couldn’t do it
all himself.
Palmer threw for 413 yards and five touchdowns to lead Santa
Margarita to victory in what was one of the greatest high school
games in the country last year.
So Foster had plenty of incentive to beat USC, including the
fact that the Trojans told him (during recruiting) that he wasn’t a
running back, but he could play defense for them.
"That’s in the back of my head. And Carson, I’ve got to beat
him," Foster said before Saturday’s game.
And Foster got his revenge – in a big, big way. He had 10
carries for 107 yards and three touchdowns in the first half,
including a 65-yard TD sprint. In the second half, he was limited
to just two yards on five carries and a fumble, as his illness was
wearing him down.
"He was very, very sick and that’s the reason we took him out,"
said Toledo.
But that didn’t matter, because two quarters were all Foster
needed to prove his point. He only need one half to prove that not
only is he the best freshman in the city, he’s the best freshman in
the country.
"I knew DeShaun was going to have a great game. That’s the way
he plays," said defensive back Julius Williams, Foster’s teammate
at Tustin High School, who also got to feel the jubilation of
defeating Palmer.
"It felt pretty good. We kind of got to him today, hopefully we
can do the same thing to him next year."
"It was great to beat (Palmer)," said Foster. "We still have a
couple more years to go, so it’s going to be a big rivalry for a
while.
And that’s an understatement. It’s going to be a huge rivalry,
and it already is. UCLA versus USC. DeShaun Foster versus Carson
Palmer.
It doesn’t get any better than that.
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