Saddleback’s First Victory Is a Shutout : El Rancho Does Not Complete Pass, Held to 98 Yards in Offense

Saddleback High is no longer winless in high school football, thanks to a 12-0 victory Friday night over El Rancho High of Pico Rivera in front of 2,500 at the loser’s field.

“The first two weeks we were forced to play catch-up,” said Saddleback coach Jerry Witte. “In both games, we were down 14 points by halftime.”

But the Roadrunners (1-2) needed just four plays before their defense asserted itself against the Dons, last year’s Division IV runner-up. El Rancho (1-2) ran the ball three times on the game’s opening possession, then attempted a punt.

Saddleback’s defense got to kicker Keith Garcia first, Victor Davis blocking the kick and Bobby Collins gathering in the ball at the five and scoring.

That from the defense that had surrendered 45 points in Saddleback’s first two games of the season--24-7 to Ocean View and 21-0 to Santa Ana.

That same defense held El Rancho to 98 yards in total offense and kept Art Rodriguez, the Dons’ starting quarterback, from completing a pass in seven attempts. His only completion of the night (14 yards to Juan Quintana) was nullified by a penalty.

It was also the same defense that intercepted Rodriguez once, sacked him once and picked off his back-up, Jim Arellanes, late in the game.

But the defense wasn’t the only operative Saddleback unit. Its offense amassed 225 yards, with J.J. Fejeran getting 78 yards of it on 16 carries.

Junior quarterback Paul Delgado passed for 102 yards, completing 9 of 14 with one touchdown and two interceptions.

The touchdown pass covered 28 yards to Juan Acuna, midway through the second quarter to give Saddleback a 12-0 lead.

“We tried to take the pressure off him (Delgado) by running the ball,” Witte said. “And I think we did a good job.