ORANGE COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL : Century League : Villa Park Beats Santa Ana Valley

The spirit of Thursday night’s Century League game between Villa Park and Santa Ana Valley was pretty much summed up in the waning moments at Fred Kelly Stadium in Orange.

With 1:53 remaining, Villa Park’s Mike Noble was attempting to punt with the wind and rain hitting him in the face. He dropped the snap, picked up the ball and then kicked it across the field, soccer-style.

“Noble gets off the punt, so to speak,” said the public-address announcer.

It was a fitting statement about Villa Park’s 35-21 victory over Santa Ana Valley before a crowd of 250.

Make that a hearty group of 250 at the beginning of the game, a group that rapidly diminished as the rain picked up.

However, those who remained were able to see some notable performances, such as:

--Senior kicker Ryan Hayes of Villa Park accounting for nine of the Spartans’ 35 points, including field goals of 40 and 48 yards. The 48-yarder was especially impressive considering the condition of the field by the third quarter.

--Senior fullback John Genova ran for two touchdowns and his second of the night, a 27-yarder, gave the Spartans a 25-0 lead in the second quarter. Genova ran for 80 yards in 9 carries.

--Jomo Stewart came into the game in the second half and looked impressive, rushing for 70 yards in 11 carries.

For Santa Ana Valley (2-4 overall, 1-1 in league play), tailback Ralph Henderson had 90 yards in 13 carries. Falcon quarterback Steve Calhoun was 8 of 22 for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Villa Park (5-2, 2-0) took a 25-0 lead before Santa Ana Valley could score. The Falcons, however, scored 14 points in the final quarter to make the game’s final score respectable. By then, the rain was coming down even harder and both teams continued to have problems, as Villa Park was penalized for a total of 95 yards and Santa Ana Valley was penalized for 70 yards.