Santa Ana football team takes first steps trying to notch fourth straight league title

Santa Ana Coach Charlie TeGantvoort talks with his players during practice this week. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)

Santa Ana High’s football team began summer workouts this week with one goal in mind, according to Coach Charlie TeGantvoort.

To see the slide show, please click on the first photo

Andrew Burgoa works on his footwork with his teammates.

Santa Ana's Edwin Hernandez and Joseph Garcia battle in a tackling drill.

Speed and balance was on display by Miguel Vaca and Raul Alvarez of Santa Ana.

Angelberto Aldaco, Alejandro Avila, and Isaac Larriva (brother of Nick Larriva who is off to Idaho State University)get some sled work in.

Young Saint Lineman get some work in during Wednesday's practice.

One of the New Santa Ana players learns the basics during Wednesday's practice.

Raul "Bam Bam" Alvarez keeps the football high and tight.

Former Saint football star Patrick McMorris helps the younger Saints during Week one of practice before he heads off to San Diego State on a full football Scholarship.

Aldo Leyva and Jason Costa getting a break with their teammates.

“Trying to sustain dominance and to continue to earn the right to call ourselves champions on and off of the field,” he said.  “This can only be done by everyone working as hard as possible with great effort and a great attitude every day.”

Santa Ana had a memorable 2018 season, going 10-3 overall and advancing to the semifinal round of the CIF Division 8 playoffs before losing to eventual champion Kaiser 51-33. The Saints won the Orange Coast League title with a 5-0 record and will be shooting for their fourth league crown in a row.

This year, Santa Ana will be led by Daniel Avalos, a three-year starter at cornerback and wide receiver, according to TeGantvoort.

Also returning this year are Kevin Arellano-Castillo, a three-year starter on the offensive line and Joel Cortes, a two-year starter on the defensive line.

Santa Ana has two major events this summer, starting with a competition against Long Beach Poly in Long Beach on June 26 at 4 p.m.

“And we will also be continuing our tradition of taking part of the Huntington Beach High School Passing League tournament in late July where we will be competing against such schools as JSerra, San Clemente, Corona del Mar and Tesoro just to name a few,” the coach said.

“We feel we must always compete against the best in these type of competitions in order to get ourselves ready for actual real football when our season starts and we began our pursuit of our fourth league championship in a row with another playoff run to win a CIF championship.”

Santa Ana’s first game is Friday, Aug. 23, at Buena Park. The Saints first home game is Friday, Aug. 30, against Cypress at Santa Ana Stadium.

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com