Santa Ana Gets Offensive Again for 38-21 Victory

Santa Ana High School rediscovered offensive football Thursday night. A week late perhaps, but in time to keep its Century League title hopes alive.

The Saints, who had averaged only 13 points in their past four games, hit a season high in points during a 38-21 victory over Canyon in front of 500 at El Modena High School.

But it wasn’t just that Santa Ana was able to score--and score a lot--it was the way it did it.

The Saints (6-2 overall, 2-1 in league play) ran the ball and kept on running it. They gained 214 yards rushing even without tailback Garner Hicks, who has 680 yards rushing on the season but missed his second consecutive game with a knee injury.

Al Rivas, Hick’s replacement, gained 104 yards in 17 carries. He also had a 49-yard touchdown called back because of a holding penalty.

True, all this came against Canyon, a team that has lost 15 consecutive league games. But it was encouraging for Santa Ana, nonetheless.

Last week, the Saints saw their 18-game league win streak come to an end with a 21-14 loss to Villa Park. They gained only 31 yards rushing in that game.

“We worked all week on blocking for our backs,” quarterback Jesse Rosas said. “We knew we were going to be without Garner again.”

The Saints ran the ball so effectively that it eventually opened up the passing lanes for Rosas. After completing only one of his first seven passes, Rosas hit six of his last seven. He finished with only 92 yards passing, but threw three touchdowns.

The Saints took a 14-0 lead, but saw Canyon (2-6, 0-3) score two second-quarter touchdowns to tie the score. With two minutes left in the first half, however, Santa Ana drove 43 yards to break the tie. Rosas completed a 26-yard pass to Octavio Medina and then threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Gus Valencia.