Santa Ana Marches to Victory, 29-14 : Saints Dominate, Capitalize on Mater Dei’s Mistakes

It wasn’t over until it was over but Santa Ana’s 29-14 victory over Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium never seemed that close. Probably because the Monarchs (0-3) were busy fumbling away opportunities to pull ahead.

The Saints (3-0) dominated defensively and offensively, sacking Monarch quarterback Danny O’Neil five times for minus-41 yards and limiting the Monarchs to only 58 yards rushing and 209 total yards. Bobby Vidana had two of those sacks and a fumble recovery.

Saint tailback Garner Hicks, alone, rushed for 203 yards and a touchdown in 30 carries and caught a pass for nine yards. Santa Ana had 343 yards offensively moving the ball at will with 14 first downs in the game, nine in the first half.

“Every time we got momentum going something happened to break us down,” Monarch Coach Bruce Rollinson said.

In the first half with Mater Dei trailing, 13-7, it was an interception by Albert Perez with 1:20 to play that ended the Monarch’s drive to take the lead. The turnover eventually led to a Saint touchdown on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Jesse Rosas with four seconds in the half to put Santa Ana ahead 19-7.

Mater Dei trailed the whole game, managing only three first downs in the first half. Oscar Wilson stripped O’Neil of the ball to end another Monarch drive and set up Gus Plasencia’s 21-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Trailing 14-22, with less than two minutes to play, the Monarch’s Mike Silvey blocked Plasencia’s punt and recovered it on the Saint 20. But Mater Dei could not penetrate the Saint defense. Vidana sacked O’Neil for an 8-yard loss before O’Neil fumbled the ball trying to scramble away from the pressure Vidana, Wilson and the rest of the defensive line put on him all night.

Opportunity came knocking at the Monarch’s door again and again nobody was home. Santa Ana fumbled on Mater Dei’s 36. The ball was kicked and tumbled forward until Ryan Motherway fell on it in his end zone for a touchback. David Gonzalez (five carries, 34 yards) ran for two before O’Neil threw two incompletions and a pass for -6 yards on fourth and 8 and Mater Dei turned the ball over on downs on its 16. Four plays later, Wilson ran the ball 10 yards on a reverse to pad the score for Santa Ana.

O’Neil was 8-15 for 151 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Rosas completed six of 12 for 86 yards and ran for two touchdowns.