Santa Ana High School’s Raymond Casillas returns a punt for a touchdown in the closing minutes of the first half Friday night. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Santa Ana High School’s football team dominated and pleased its homecoming crowd as the Saints rolled to a 63-0 victory over Saddleback in an Orange Coast League game Friday night at Santa Ana Stadium.
Running back Jason Costa and quarterback Sergio Torres led the powerful Saints attack as Santa Ana (5-1, 2-0) won its fourth consecutive game. The Saints have outscored their opponents 227-30 during the current winning streak. The Roadrunners (3-4, 0-2) have dropped three in a row.
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“I thought our defense played really well, especially our linebackers who are improving each week,” said Saints coach Charlie TeGantvoort. “We’re starting to hit our stride but we have to continue to get better because we have big goals to achieve by the end of the season.”
The Saints offense quickly got on a roll in the first quarter and built a 28-0 lead after running just 11 plays. Three plays following an errant Roadrunners’ snap on a fourth-down punt attempt, Costa scored on a three-yard run to give the Saints a 7-0 lead. Moments later, one play after a Saddleback punt, Torres tossed a 35-yard TD pass to Xavier Valdovinos.
“We executed our game plan and we kept the mistakes to a minimum,” Costa said. “We’re really playing as a united team right now.”
Following a Roadrunners’ three-and-out, Torres completed a long pass to Ivan Gomez to the Saddleback 3-yard line. Two plays later, Torres raced in from two yards, upping the Saints lead to 21-0. Later in the quarter, Costa picked off a Roadrunners’ pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.
Late in the second quarter, Santa Ana added two more touchdowns. Torres connected on a nine-yard TD pass to Imanol Torres and Raymond Casillas returned a punt 30 yards for a TD as Santa Ana built a commanding 42-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Saints added a 60-yard TD run by senior running back Raul “Bam Bam” Alvarez, and Victor Martinez threw two TD passes.
“We had good practices all week but we still have to correct the little mistakes,” said Torres. “It’s also time for our leadership to step it up in the remaining games.”
Santa Ana’s defense, led by Ian Hermosillo, Jesus Olvera and Michael Hughes, applied heavy pressure on the Saddleback’s quarterback’s, forcing four turnovers and recording five sacks.
“We’re getting ready for a big game against Orange at the end of the season,” said Hughes. “We’re continuing to get better each week.”
Due to numerous injuries, including one to its top receiver, Joey Wilson, Saddleback suited up only 23 players for the game.
“We’ve lost three in a row, so it’s time for us to regroup,” said Saddleback Coach Glenn Campbell. “We have to find out what we are made of and we have to ready for the (Costa Mesa) Mustangs on Thursday.”
—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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