Fanti’s Long Return : A Year Has Made All the Difference on the Field, in Class for Santa Ana Quarterback

See Richard Fanti, Santa Ana High School quarterback, score the winning touchdown with 32 seconds remaining Friday night to give the Saints a come-from-behind victory over Esperanza in the Southern Section Southern Conference quarterfinals.

See Fanti, a junior, throw the winning touchdown pass with 13 seconds left to give Santa Ana a come-from-behind victory over El Modena, clinching the Century League title four weeks ago.

See Fanti’s first-quarter report card, sparkling with As and Bs, which are good enough for a 3.0 grade-point average.

Flashbacks:

See Fanti sitting on the bench for every Santa Ana varsity game during his sophomore year.

See Fanti moping around during practice--that is, on the days he went to practice--giving minimal effort and not caring how the team did.

See Fanti skipping school, usually three days a week, during a five-week period of his sophomore year and generally disregarding school for much of the year.

See Fanti’s 1985-86 report cards, chock full of Cs, Ds and Fs, which make him academically ineligible for the first half of the 1986 track season.

Fast forward:

Yes, the same Richard Fanti, who has been a smashing success this year on the football field and in the classroom at Santa Ana, seemed destined last year to become a failure.

But the way things have been going these days, with Fanti finishing the regular season as Orange County’s third-ranked quarterback and leading the Saints (11-1) into Friday night’s Southern Conference semifinal game against Lynwood, it seems all of last year’s problems are in the distant past.

That’s because Fanti has come such a long way.

And he knows he won’t go back.

He has been in school virtually every day this year. His grades are good, and he looks forward to his classes. He wants to go to college.

He has also developed into an outstanding football player. Fanti, 5-feet 11-inches and 165 pounds, has completed 55 of 104 passes for 1,035 yards and 11 touchdowns this season and rushed for an additional 685 yards. His speed and scrambling ability make him very difficult to contain.

Last year, Fanti failed to earn a spot in Santa Ana’s defensive backfield. Then, a leg injury midway through the season destroyed all hopes of playing.

“After that, I didn’t want to come to school,” Fanti said. “I figured, I couldn’t play, and I wasn’t doing too well in school, so what’s the use in going?”

He found out this year. Given a reprieve by Coach Dick Hill, who wasn’t too enthused about Fanti’s attitude in 1985, the junior earned the starting quarterback job this fall.

Once Fanti experienced some success on the football field, he began to realize the importance of school.

“Everything is going better this year because I’m motivated,” Fanti said. “I’ve got to have good grades, because all the teachers recognize me, and if I mess up in class, they’ll think, ‘If he can do that on the field, why can’t he do that in class?’

“Being on top makes you more motivated to come to school and do your work. You have something to look forward to every Friday night. I don’t know how people who don’t do anything outside of school survive. You have to have something to look forward to. Otherwise, life gets boring. That’s what happened to me last year.”

Fanti gives Hill much of the credit for his about-face.

“Last year, I had an ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude, and he didn’t like it,” Fanti said. “We didn’t get along real well. But this year, he said he’d give me a chance to prove myself again, and I really respected that. We get along great now.”

Fanti hopes his progress in school and in football will lead to a college scholarship. He may be small, but he has an abundance of athletic ability.

Fanti competes in three events for Santa Ana’s track team and has recorded personal bests of 6-5 1/2 in the high jump, 24 feet in the long jump and 9.9 seconds in the 100-yard dash.

He was the Century League long-jump champion in his freshman year and advanced to the CIF Masters Meet, in which he failed to place.

He has excellent vision and, on the football field, has a knack for being able to avoid a rush. He has a strong arm (he hopes to pitch on the Saints’ baseball team next spring), but he’s as good a runner as a passer.

As for school, the fact that Fanti even wants to go to college is indicative of his improvement. Last year, Fanti, mired in all of his problems, saw some of the alternatives to going to college and preparing for a career.

He didn’t like them.

“I don’t want to be one of those guys who stands on the corner and sells drugs,” Fanti said. “I have my act together now. My goal is to get a scholarship, and even if I don’t play sports, I want to get an education so I don’t have to work in a factory or something.

“My dad (Richard) is a carpenter, and when he comes home from work, he’s tired and sore. I don’t want that. I don’t want to have to work that hard to get paid a little amount. He makes good money, but not enough, considering how hard he works.”