Thursday, Sept. 12, 2002 | 9:13 a.m.
As Foothill quarterback Josh Daneshforooz struggled off the field last Friday at Durango, one thought flashed through the mind of Falcons' coach Ray Fenton: Here we go again.
For the past three seasons, Fenton's teams have expected to take the field with a senior under center, only to have each of the three taken out of the mix for one reason or another.
In 2000, Grant Stanley -- Foothill's starting quarterback throughout 1999, the program's first year -- opted to concentrate on baseball during his senior year. He quit the team in the preseason, leaving the job in the hands of then-junior Alex DeVaughn.
DeVaughn showed flashes of brilliance and was considered one of the area's top returning quarterbacks heading into 2001. But DeVaughn left town over the summer, passing the torch to Daneshforooz, a junior at the time.
Daneshforooz rose to the challenge, leading the Falcons into the 4A State Tournament. But in his first drive from scrimmage last week, the senior suffered a broken collarbone in his non-throwing shoulder. The injury will likely keep him out 4-6 weeks.
"It's unbelievable. Can we get a senior quarterback, ever?" Fenton marvelled. "We were so excited. We had a two-year kid coming back, and we put a lot of things into our offense this year for him."
Daneshforooz's injury proved to be the dark cloud in an otherwise sunny opener for Foothill. His replacement, junior Mickey Beljin, completed 8-of-15 passes, and the Falcons hung on for a 19-18 win over a ranked Trailblazer squad.
Friday night, Foothill will again turn to Beljin in another battle of Top-10 teams. The No. 7 Falcons host No. 10 Bishop Gorman at 7 p.m.
"Last year Mickey was Josh's backup. He basically gave up a JV season as a starter to stand on the sideline with us," Fenton said. "So he's been a part of it. He came with us to Reno (for state) last year, and he got a lot of reps last year in practice and this summer, so we have complete confidence in him."
Fenton's confidence in Beljin was apparent last week, as the Falcons' coach started his new quarterback off with a pass play. Beljin completed it, finding tight end Matt Gerfy for a short gain.
"I didn't see Josh get hurt, but I saw him running out and right off the bat coach Fenton called a pass play," Beljin said. "By him calling a pass play, I felt he had confidence in me."
Senior receiver Nate Wederquist, who has worked with four different quarterbacks in his three years at Foothill, said he also has faith Beljin will pick up where Daneshforooz left off.
"They're different. Josh is more of an option guy, run and throw. He's quicker," Wederquist said. "Mickey is an arm. He can really throw. I know a lot of people will count us out with the quarterback change, but it wasn't hard at all to make the transition from quarterback to quarterback."
As for Daneshforooz, the senior could be found at practice this week working with Beljin, helping his former understudy prepare for this week's contest.
"Mickey came in and did a great job under that pressure last week" Daneshforooz said. "He's been so supportive of me and now it's my turn to be exactly how he's been to me for the past two years. I think he'll do a great job playing."
The Gaels opened with an easy 45-2 win over Canadian foe Carson Graham last week, but coach Kevin Kent isn't expecting to roll against a solid Foothill squad, new quarterback or not.
"We thought (Beljin) performed outstandingly. He stayed within the system, and it looked like they didn't miss a beat," Kent said. "They've got a lot of weapons and a lot of things we have to be concerned with."
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