Lee, Tuioti Spark Santa Ana Past Saddleback

Santa Ana High School running back Robert Lee may have been paid the ultimate compliment Friday. He was taken for granted.

Lee rushed for 126 yards, scored two touchdowns, and led the Saints to a 26-13 victory over Saddleback at Santa Ana Stadium in front of 4,000.

And, for all his second efforts, he might have been overshadowed by the performance turned in by quarterback George Tuioti.

Lee has been a star since he was a sophomore and led the Saints to the Southern Conference championship. He led the county in scoring last season with 19 touchdowns and averaged more than 200 yards a game over the final nine games.

Friday night, Lee scored Santa Ana’s first two touchdowns--a five-yard run late in the first quarter and a two-yard run early in the second quarter. The latter touchdown was set up by Royal Wilbon’s 25-yard punt return to the Saddleback 10.

Lee’s running throughout the game was a brutal, beautiful show. Trimmed down to about 190 pounds, he appears to be faster than ever.

He broke tackles, he spun around defenders, he ran over people. He also had 60 yards, including a 37-yard run, called back because of Santa Ana penalties.

The Saints were penalized 10 times for 135 yards.

Still, when the game had ended, the mob was around Tuioti, the 6-3, 210-pound linebacker stuffed into the role of quarterback when last season’s starter, Richard Fanti, became academically ineligible this summer.

Tuioti doesn’t look like a quarterback, with his neck brace, bandaged nose and black socks. But Tuioti completed 4 of 6 passes, including two for touchdowns. The first, an 80-yarder to Wilbon, put Santa Ana ahead, 18-7, in the second quarter, a lead the Saints took into halftime.

Saddleback running back Juan Valle’s seven-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, his second score of the game, cut Santa Ana’s lead to 18-13.

But Tuioti and Lee led the Saints on an eight-play drive midway through the fourth quarter that consumed nearly five minutes and culminated on a five-yard pass from Tuioti to Wilbon. On the 44-yard drive, Lee rushed five times for 20 yards.

“George is a great athlete, but Robert Lee is the one,” said Jerry Witte, Saddleback coach. “Robert would get eight yards on a first down run, that makes it easy for a quarterback to look good.”

Tuioti look good? That’s in the eye of the beholder. Did we mention the turquoise head band?

“You know, I’m real proud of the way I look, that I don’t look like a regular quarterback,” Tuioti said.

“When I’m running, I like to yell and scream, it really intimidates cornerbacks. They don’t expect that from a quarterback.”

Tuioti, an All-Century League linebacker, also has experience to help him. Twice in the game he took quick snaps from center, and rushed straight ahead for gains of 5 and 22 yards, taking advantage of hole in the Saddleback defense.

“I know exactly what they’re doing,” he said. “I know when they’re going to shoot, I know because I’m one of them. When I saw them move away, I just tapped my center on the behind and said, ‘Let’s go, baby.’ And that’s what we did.”