Santa Ana Turns Title Rematch Into Mismatch

Santa Ana High School used a strong defense Saturday night as the Saints rolled to a 19-0 victory over Mission Viejo in front of 2,000 in Santa Ana Stadium.

The rematch of last year’s Southern Conference championship game turned out to be a mismatch. Santa Ana (3-1) recorded six sacks, recovered three fumbles, blocked a punt and intercepted a pass.

Mission Viejo (1-3) suffered its second shutout of the season as the Diablos made seven first downs and were held to four net yards rushing.

“We stunk,” said Bill Crow, Mission Viejo coach. “We took a giant step backward. You can use every adjective there is and some you can’t print to describe the way our offense played tonight.”

Santa Ana had plenty to do with the Diablos’ play. The Saints’ defensive line, led by Tavis Shippen and Albert Ruiz, overpowered Mission Viejo. Crow tried two quarterbacks with little success as Mission Viejo gained 98 yards in the air.

Santa Ana quarterback Richard Fanti threw two touchdown passes and completed 6 of 11 pass attempts for 105 yards. Fanti threw a perfect pass to Royal Wilbon for a 47-yard touchdown with 6:28 remaining, his best pass of the night.

“This was our best game of the year,” said Dick Hill, Santa Ana coach. “We got some young ones who are going to get better. We’ve advanced forward since our loss to Saddleback two weeks ago.”

Wilbon, the Saints’ fastest player, set up the only touchdown of the first half, taking a punt at midfield and returning it 25 yards to the Mission Viejo 25-yard line. Fanti didn’t waste any time, passing to Darrel Bailey for 23 yards and a first down at the Diablo two, and then throwing two yards to Bailey for a touchdown with 51 seconds remaining in the half.

The Saints had another opportunity to score in the second quarter, but Julian Rea’s 27-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Mission Viejo’s Norm Deghetto. Rea also missed a 36-yard attempt in the third quarter.

The Saints totaled 264 yards in the game with tailback Robert Lee gaining 9 yards in 14 carries before leaving the game early in the third quarter. Lee had been suffering from the flu all week.