PREP FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Southern Conference : Gambles Pay Off and Hill Is Carried Off

Dick Hill, Santa Ana High School football coach, was carried on the shoulders of players into the middle of a scrambling, screaming hoard that roared its approval after the Saints had beaten Mission Viejo, 32-21, Saturday in the CIF Southern Section Southern Conference championship game at LeBard Stadium.

Players, spectators and school officials clamored around him. They competed to hug him, have their pictures taken with him or just tell him how proud they were.

In fact, there were a couple of fans who grew impatient with to be near him.

If the Hill couldn’t come to them, they would go to the Hill.

They took matters onto their shoulders, hoisting Hill up for a third time, to the chants of “Hill! Hill! Hill!”

For his part, Hill remained relatively calm. He rode shoulders, shook hands and even found his wife Jackie in the crowd to give her a kiss, but through it all he kept this Chesire Cat smile that gave away what Dick Hill is--on this night anyway.

Dick Hill is a gambler.

OK. So he’s not the kind of guy you’re going to find around the gaming tables at Monte Carlo. Dressed in baggy light-blue polyester trousers, a baggy jacket and a cap, he’ll never be mistaken for a distant relative of Jimmy the Greek.

But against Mission Viejo, Hill had gambled three times, each paying off big.

In the first quarter, with Mission Viejo leading, 7-0, a drive by the Saints had stalled on the Diablo 40-yard line. With 5:38 remaining in the first quarter, Santa Ana got into punt formation. Punter Eric Turner (he’s also the Saints’ quarterback) took the snap but instead of kicking, threw a 15-yard pass to running back Steve De La Riva for a first down.

Two plays later, sophomore running back Robert Lee scored on a 25-yard run.

Santa Ana scored a second touchdown when Emele Leausa ran in from six yards out. The Saints lined up for an extra-point kick, but Hill called for a a fake. Holder Turner took the snap and carried the ball in for the conversion. The Saints led, 15-14.

With 9:11 left in the game and trailing, 21-18, Santa Ana drove to the 8-yard line. Lee, who gained 231 yards, had left the game with an injury a few plays before. But he returned to the field to rousing applause. Every knew he was going to get the ball. The kid was awesome, right? Who else, right?

But Hill crossed up everyone, and called for a fake to Lee and a reverse to wide receiver Frank Arechiga. He scored and the Saints took a 25-21 lead.

What incredible wisdom had Hill drawn upon to make this final decision? What passed through this football-worn mind that has won Southern Section championships in the each of the last four decades?

“I thought they thought we’d give it to him,” the 57-year-old sage said. “That’s why we didn’t give it to him.”

Oh.

“When Coach Hill called for the fake punt we knew he meant to win this game,” wide receiver Shawn Lopez said. “He told us before the game that it was there and we just had to reach out and grab it.”

It sounds like a phone advertisement gone wild.

Reach out and grab it.

But it was the motto of Hill.

“I’m so happy for these kids,” Hill said. “I told them they could reach it if they tried. I made up my mind before the game I was going to give them the opportunity to grab it.”