Ocean View Stops Santa Ana Valley : Winners Hold Falcons to 94 Yards Rushing in 20-6 Victory

Ocean View High School Coach Howard Isom was worried about one thing going into Friday night’s game against Santa Ana Valley.

How would his comparatively small defensive front match up with the Falcons’ tackle tandem of Loren Ragland (6-4, 303 pounds) and Avega Tali (6-4, 280)?

But Ragland went out with a sprained ankle in the first series, cutting Isom’s worries in half. And the Ocean View defense rose to the challenge, limiting the ball-control oriented Falcons to 94 yards rushing in a 20-6 victory in front of 1,400 at Santa Ana Stadium.

“I was concerned that their big people were going to come out and just hammer us down the field,” Isom said. A legitimate concern, considering his defensive tackles Alex Kim (5-8, 200) and John Garcia (6-0, 200) had considerably less weight to throw around than the members of Santa Ana Valley’s offensive line.

“Our little boys played up to the occasion. I couldn’t be prouder of my defense,” Isom said.

The Falcons (1-1-1) came out flat. It took them more than three quarters to reach the Ocean View end zone. But what convinced Falcon Coach Dan Castanon that all was not well was the way his team finally scored.

“We’re down on the goal line and we’re an offensive surge team,” he said. “But it took us three shots to get it in.

The Falcons got down to the one-yard line with the help of James Stewart’s 62-yard pass to Kenny Barnes. Stewart took over in the fourth quarter after starting quarterback Gary Graves (3-6, 22 yards) left with a pulled muscle in his leg.

A one-yard run by tailback Jesse Brooks (9 carries, 43 yards) helped the Falcons avoid a shutout and was one of the few bright spots in a game where Ocean View (2-1) limited its passing game and fed Santa Ana Valley its own medicine--ball control, in-your-face running.

Ocean View quarterback Randy Karliner, who had run up 413 yards passing in two games with the Seahawks’ run-and-shoot offense, opted to hand off most of the night.

Ocean View unleashed its rushing attack for 173 yards. Quincy Bennett had a touchdown and 77 of those yards in 16 carries.

Karliner did complete 9 of 16 passes for 80 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

He got Ocean View on the scoreboard with a six-yard bullet to Greg Ainsworth in the first quarter. The touchdown was set up by a 31-yard reverse from Ben Cesar to Albert Fanoga.

Santa Ana Valley had its chances to score. Cesar fumbled on the Falcon 25 and Stewart recovered for Santa Ana Valley but the Falcons could not get a first down.

Then Rome Manson picked off a Karliner pass that bounced off the fingers of his intended receiver. But again, the Falcons couldn’t go 10 yards.

In the second quarter, Ocean View went 51 yards for a touchdown. An 18-yard reception by Fanoga and a four-yard touchdown run by Bennett were the key plays in the drive. In the fourth quarter, Karliner found Andrew Wind in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown pass.