Saints running back Patrick McMorris takes off for one of his four first half touchdowns in route to a 48-26 victory over the Fountain Valley Barons. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)
Santa Ana’s football team entered the first round of the CIF Division 8 playoffs against Fountain Valley Friday evening at Santa Ana Stadium as one of the hottest teams in Orange County.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
And the No. 3 seeded Saints didn’t take long to show why.
Patrick McMorris rushed for 305 yards and scored five touchdowns as the Saints (9-2) cruised to a 48-26 victory over the Barons (5-6).
Santa Ana advances to the second round and will face Temecula Valley Friday on the road.
McMorris, despite transferring from Godinez and sitting out the first five games of the season, eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark rushing mark for the season (1,210) in just six games. Saints running back Drew Ramirez also rushed for 1,000 yards this season (1,030).
“The linemen deserve all of the credit,” said McMorris. “We are a focused unit and we want to win. Of course, we had a little bit of nerves coming into tonight but once the game started we were all disciplined and played as a unit.”
The Saints offensive of Alan Contreras, Marcos Barriga, Kevin Arellano, Brian Landaverde and John Ramirez dominated the trenches as Santa Ana racked up 416 yards on the ground and were virtually unstoppable.
“Our mindset was to work together,” said offensive lineman Kevin Arellano. “We’re ready for what’s next, we want more.”
Santa Ana, champion of the Orange Coast League, has won seven consecutive games and has averaged 49 points per game and has outscored its opponents 342-66. The Saints have scored 40 or points more eight times in a game this season.
Fountain Valley (5-6) finished fifth in the Sunset League and has lost six of its last seven games.
One minute into the game, Saints defensive back Ricardo Ornelas picked off a pass and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown.
“Ricardo is one of the unsung heroes of this team,” Santa Ana coach Charlie TeGantvoort added.
Following a Barons three-and-out, the Saints marched 83 yards in 8 plays. Ramirez caught a 11-yard TD pass from Julian Gomez to up Santa Ana’s lead to 15-0.
“Our running game is explosive with Patrick, and our offensive line opened it up” said Gomez, who completed 12 of 17 passes for 108 yards a TD.
The second quarter belonged to McMorris as he scored four touchdowns in the quarter on runs of eight, one, 28 and 34 yards. Fountain Valley couldn’t seem to find a way to stop 6-2 senior running back.
However, the Barons didn’t fold as they sandwiched two long TD passes of 82 and 81 yards respectively from Josh Stupin to Tristan Bettinghausen in the quarter but trailed 42-14 at the half.
But the Barons defense was unable to stop the Saints offensive attack. McMorris rushed for 248 yards on 15 carries in the first half. He scored his fifth TD of the game on a 38-yard run midway through the third quarter, upping the Saints lead to 48-14. He did not play the fourth quarter.
Stupin had a big game for Fountain Valley as he completed 23 passes for 449 yards and three TDs but the Barons turned the ball over five times in the game.
“They could have laid down but they didn’t and that measures their success; they never quit” said Barons coach Jimmy Nolan. “They’ll be able to look to in the mirror and know they played like men. I’m proud of them.”
STATS
FV 00 14 06 06 – 26
SA 15 27 06 00 – 48
RUSHING: FV, Fuiava 13-97; SA, McMorris 19-304, Cruz 9-31.
PASSING: FV, Stupin, 23-37-2, 449 yards, 3 TDs.; SA, Gomez12-17-0, 108 yards, TD
RECEIVING: Krause 6-78, Sykes, 3-75; SA, Ramirez 6-63, Velasco 3-25.
-Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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