Santa Ana College captains meet for the coin toss Saturday. (Photos courtesy Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).
Santa Ana College’s football team scored early and often and rolled to a 49-13 victory over Citrus College Saturday afternoon at the Santa Ana Bowl.
The Dons (4-3, 2-0) started off poised and aggressive and kept their foot on the gas pedal and remained tied for the top spot in the Metro Conference, along with Glendale College, who defeated Orange Coast College on Saturday.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo:
The Dons took the opening kickoff and drove 85 yards in eight plays to get on the board. Ceasar Ayala tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kyran Hayes, who made an outstanding leaping catch at the pylon for the score.
“We wanted to come out and get on top quick,” said Ayala. “We never want to be satisfied.”
“We came ready to play and brought the best of our best,” Hayes added.
On the Owls first play on the ensuing drive, defensive back Bryce Phillips picked off a Citrus pass and returned it 25 yards for touchdown, the Dons fourth defensive touchdown of the season, propelling SAC to a 14-0 lead after three minutes of play.
Following a Citrus three-and-out, the Dons moved down field quickly again. Ayala threw a 20-yard TD pass to Kristian Constantine, upping the Dons lead to 21-0.
Still in the opening quarter, SAC used a bit of trickery to extend its lead to 28-0. Ayala pitched the ball to wide receiver Tyler Shimomura, who caught the Owls defense by compete surprise, and tossed a 50-yard TD pass to Hayes, who was wide open and breezed into the end zone.
“He was so wide open, I just didn’t want to over throw him,” said Shimomura, who also had four catches for 77 yards and scored a touchdown.
The Owls (3-4, 1-1) lone touchdown in the opening half came on a fourth-down play as Trent Young lofted a 31-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Flores at the 12:27 mark of the second-quarter, cutting the lead to 28-6.
However, Ayala countered with a minute to play in the half as he completed a short screen to Shimomura, who broke several tackles and raced 47 yards for a touchdown, giving SAC a 35-6 halftime lead. Ayala has thrown 17 TD passes this season thus far.
The SAC defense had a host of exceptional performances – Devyon Benton, Phillips, Jalen Jones, Camaren Sweet, Devin Ruffalo, Kudo Draper and Anthony Curtis – as the Dons recorded seven sacks and forced four turnovers.
The Owls came into Saturday’s game averaging 425 yards of offense per game and their three losses were by a total of 16 points. But the Dons were up to the challenge and limited Citrus to under 250 yards of offense (and a good portion of that came in the second half when the game had already been decided). SAC also racked up 389 yards of offense and notched 28 first downs.
“We listened to our coaches and filled the gaps and kept the ball rolling,” said Draper, a defensive lineman, who had a sack, a fumble recovery and six tackles. “We’re playing crispy right now.”
Dons coach Anthony White was pleased following the game.
“Our defense is flying to the ball,” said White. “We’re hard on them at practice and they have responded by doing the job.”
SAC added two short rushing TDs in the second half by Gary Ferman and Ethan Pocci, who combined to rush for 120 yards on 20 carries. After dropping its first three games of the season (the first one was a forfeit, due to Covid), SAC has won four consecutive games and is averaging over 46 points per game.
The Dons travel next Saturday to play Orange Coast College.
–Courtesy Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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