Seniors lead Foundation football to dominant win in delayed, shortened game

Neither an hour-and-a-half lightning delay nor a game shortened by two quarters were enough to slow down the Foundation Academy football team in its Week Three win over the Bronson High Eagles Friday, Sept. 6.

With the 42-0 trashing of Bronson at home, the Lions claimed their first win of the season and move to 1-2.

"The guys came out with the same energy we saw them bring last week, but they were better with their execution this week," Foundation coach Andrew Walker said. "I can tell they're growing and that's all I can ask for really, I've enjoyed the progression that I've seen so far."

Foundation came out of the gates quickly, scoring three times in the first five minutes of play, with seniors Steven Grecco and Stephen Ford at the center of the early touchdowns. 

Eighth-grade quarterback Gianni Rodriquez found Grecco for the first TD of the game, then Grecco on the next drive — playing defensive back now — chased down the Bronson QB for a strip sack which Ford recovered in the endzone for the second touchdown of the night.

A few minutes later in the first quarter, Ford — playing receiver a few drives later — took Rodriguez's pass to the house for his second TD of the night to make the score 21-0 with 7:15 left to play in the first quarter. 

"We had great performances tonight from our seniors," Walker said. "Stephen Ford had a great game on both sides of the ball ... and there's not much more to say about what Steven Grecco gave us tonight. He was phenomenal."

Sam Wood and Tyler Bolivar also added touchdowns to bolster the Lions tally, while Grecco also added a pick-six in the second quarter to cap off the scoring for Foundation. 

"We're looking for guys to step up," Walker said. "Those three gentlemen, Grecco, Ford and Wood, they did that tonight and hopefully this win can carry us as we keep growing and gaining momentum."

The game was called right after the opening kickoff of the second half, following lightning being detected within a six-mile radius of the field.

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Despite this being the Lions' first win of the 2024 season, Walker isn't allowing time for too much celebration for his young team. He's going full Bill Belichick and is moving onto the Lions' Week Five matchup. 

"We have a pretty tough one in two weeks versus Melbourne Central Catholic, so I'm looking forward to that challenge," he said. "Hopefully with this bye week, we will have a chance to keep progressing, get a little healthier and then go into that week full throttle with the momentum we got from this game."

The game was called right after the opening kickoff of the second half, following lightning being detected within a six-mile radius of the field.