Community College Football : Rancho Santiago Turns Southwestern Every Which Way But Loose in 56-20 Victory

Dismantle, demolish, destroy. Pick one.

They all work pretty well to describe what Rancho Santiago did to Southwestern in the first half of the Dons’ 56-20 Mission Conference victory Saturday in front of about 750 at Santa Ana Stadium.

Rancho Santiago (3-0-1 overall and 2-0-1 in conference) rang up seven first-half touchdowns and led, 49-7, when the gun finally sounded.

The Rancho Santiago defense, likely to be forgotten by some because of its offense, set up each of the first-half scores.

Fred Soares, Don Peterson, Rick Lane Tony Gonzales and Dedric Bently had interceptions and James Ramsey recovered a fumble--all helping to set up touchdowns.

The other touchdown was set up when four Rancho Santiago defenders tackled Southwestern punter Anthony Rivera on his own 11.

The defense caused turnovers that gave Rancho Santiago the ball inside the Southwestern 45, 7 times and inside the 15, 3 times.

Mark Maldanado had a third-quarter interception and Gary Valenzuela one in the fourth for Rancho Santiago.

“Our defense got us great field position in the first half,” Rancho Santiago Coach Dave Ogas said. “It’s a lot easier to score when you only have to drive a short distance.”

Mike Miscione scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns and Rancho Santiago led, 14-0.

The Dons then put on an offensive display that bordered on awesome, scoring 5 touchdowns in the next 10 minutes.

Paul Peters caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Scott Wood at 14:52. Alvin Price ran 7 yards for a score at 12:23. Kerry Reed ran 26 yards for touchdown at 10:03. Peters caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Eric Turner at 7:32, and Reed caught a 17-yard scoring pass at 5:05 to complete the first-half onslaught.

Tom Snitko kicked all seven first-half extra points.

Darrell Corbin scored a touchdown on an 11-yard run early in the fourth quarter for Rancho Santiago’s final score.

Southwestern (1-3, 0-3) was penalized 16 times for 186 yards.

--STEVE KRESAL

In other Mission Conference games:

Fullerton 30, San Diego Mesa 0--Freshman Jeff Andrews, the conference’s leading rusher, carried the ball 18 times for 123 yards and a touchdown in Fullerton’s win at San Diego Mesa.

Fullerton (4-0, 3-0), the fifth-ranked team in nation, recorded its second shutout of season and second in conference play. The defense had 10 sacks for 87 yards in losses. San Diego Mesa (1-3, 1-2) finished with minus 12 yards in rushing and a total offense of 41 yards.

Fullerton quarterback Victor Williams was 14 of 24 for 199 yards and 1 touchdown, but his streak of 98 consecutive passes without an interception was broken on the last play of the game.

Orange Coast 35, San Diego City 15--Brian George scored four touchdowns on the ground to lead OCC (3-1, 2-1) in a penalty-marred contest. The teams combined for 350 yards in penalties. OCC was called 16 times for 167 yards and San Diego City (1-3, 0-3) 17 times for 183 yards.

George scored on runs of 9 and 6 yards in the first half as OCC led at halftime, 14-7. He scored on a pair of 2-yard runs in the third quarter, finishing with 104 yards in 21 carries.

Mt. San Antonio 24, Saddleback 19--The Mounties (3-1, 2-1) ended Saddleback’s 11-game winning streak which dated back to last Oct. 3. Leonard Russell rushed for 226 yards in 42 carries and scored 1 touchdown, and Tim Callier (61 yards in 13 carries) scored a pair of touchdowns for the Mounties. Saddleback’s Scott Miller caught 13 passes for 176 yards, and John Burns rushed for 46 yards in 12 carries. Scott Stark was 19 of 54 with 2 interceptions for Saddleback (3-1, 2-1).