Santa Ana, CA — Century High School traveled to Foothill High School on a cold and drizzly Friday night under the lights to take on the Knights. The Knights were coming off a strong opening performance earlier this week in their opener against Northwood, while the Centurions were looking to recover from a 0-2 setback earlier in the week at the hands of Tustin High School. Century came out of the gate with a defensive posture that initially complicated Foothill's offensive advances. The Knights broke through in the 22nd minute on a beautifully placed free kick from 30 yards out by senior Kevin Ambrocio. Senior Joey Benítez added another just 8 minutes later. Benítez scored on an incredible solo effort starting at midfield that saw him dribble through 4 defenders before finishing in the bottom corner to beat the keeper. Century escalated their physicality in an attempt extinguish the Knights' offense finishing the first half with a yellow card tally of 3 to Foothill's 0. Century came out in the second half with the same intensity and drew Foothill into a contentious stalemate that saw no goals and several yellow cards given to both teams. It was a gritty dogfight that was finally broken open in the 55th minute on a goal by sophmore Matthew Mendoza that was artfully assisted by Kevin Ambrocio. Joey Benítez added another to the scoreboard on an assist from junior Tyler Valdez two minutes before the final whistle. The match was a physical and heated battle that saw 5 yellows for Century and 5 yellows for Foothill (one allocated to Coach Reid for a team equipment violation.) The win was a team effort that saw all players contribute and put in meaningful shifts and minutes. Senior Michael Garcia, who came on in the second half, was a physical presence in the back, shoring up the back by making strong and decisive challenges to the Centurions' attacks. The contest was of special interest to senior Joey Benítez as his uncle, Marvin Devia, was the Century head coach. Benítez said that he was proud of the Knights' effort and that he was especially glad to get the win against his uncle. Next week, Foothill takes on Rancho Alamitos of Garden Grove at home, Tuesday @ 7pm and then away at crosstown rivals Beckman, Wednesday @ 3:15pm. Go Knights!