College of the Redwoods suffered another tough loss in football on Saturday, falling 45-27 at Foothill.

The loss was the fourth straight for the Corsairs, who dropped to 1-3 in the American Pacific-7 Conference and 2-6 on the season.

Quarterback Moise Francois threw for three touchdowns and ran in for another in the loss, although he also had a pick six shortly before halftime when the Corsairs were driving.

“He battled,” CR head coach Frank Borba said of Francois. “He made a couple of mistakes, but he gave us a chance to compete.”

Francois, who took over from starter Alex Adams after the latter struggled to find his rhythm, competed 21-of-36 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns, as well as scoring on a three-yard run in the fourth quarter.

A pair of former St. Bernard’s players had impressive showings in the loss, one on each side of the ball.

At receiver Micha Fontenot-Cornely had a team-high nine receptions for 115 yards, while on defense, DB Damian Natt finished with a team-high six tackles.

Acosta’s big catch

Receiver Casey Acosta scored on a 60-yard TD catch to open the scoring for CR late in the first quarter and pull the visitors within a TD of the home team.

Zacharry Loveland added 61 yards on six receptions, including a 50-yard TD catch, while Marcus Finney had three receptions for 44 yards, including a seven-yard score.

The Corsairs, however, had problems running the ball against a good Foothill defense.

“Their defense was stout, and we knew that,” Borba said. “We knew that was going to be an issue, but we didn’t execute the way we should have.”

Running back Elijah Hicks, who came into the game leading the conference in rushing yards, was limited to just 33 yards on 14 carries, as the team averaged less than a yard a carry.

Conversely, the Foothill offense came into the game scoring just 17.8 points a game and had its best showing of the season.

“We weren’t expecting that,” Borba said. “They executed well on offense. Arguably the best they have all year.”

CR’s Juan Villafan had his team-leading third interception of the season.

Foothill improved to 1-1 in conference and 3-4 overall.

CR will return home to host Yuba next Saturday.