Santa Ana Gets the Bounces to Beat Santa Ana Valley, 14-7

The end of a 10-year drought was oh-so close for Santa Ana Valley High School. All that kept the Falcons from qualifying for the Southern Section playoffs for the first time since 1979 was a bounce here, a bounce there and a couple of inches.

But, in the end, there was just too much to overcome and the Falcons again missed out on the playoffs.

Santa Ana, the three-time defending Century League champions, found it’s better to be lucky than good sometimes. The Saints capitalized on two Falcon errors and came away with a 14-7 victory in front of 2,500 in Santa Ana Stadium Friday night.

The victory gives the Saints (8-2 overall, 4-1 in league play) a co-championship with Villa Park. Santa Ana will entering the Division III playoffs as the league’s No. 2 team because it lost to Villa Park.

And Santa Ana Valley? Well it came into the game needed only a tie to qualify for the playoffs. Instead, the Falcons (3-6-1, 2-3) finish in a three-way tie for third place with El Modena and Foothill.

El Modena gets the league’s third playoff spot because it beat both Foothill and Santa Ana Valley.

“We got a good effort from our offense and a great effort from our defense,” Santa Ana Valley Coach Dan Castanon said. “It’s hard to understand what happened.”

For that, you have to follow the bouncing ball.

After falling behind 7-0, Santa Ana got two big breaks in the second quarter.

The first, a bad snap on a Santa Ana Valley punt, gave Santa Ana a first down on the 14-yard line. It took the Saints eight plays to score, including four from the one-yard line. After getting nothing on the first three plays, quarterback Jesse Rosas barely got into the end zone on fourth down.

Then, on Santa Ana Valley’s next possession, Falcon quarterback Gary Graves fumbled into the hands of Saint defensive lineman Oscar Wilson, who went 35 yards for the touchdown.

“I got turned around (on the play) and didn’t know what happened,” Wilson said. “Then the ball was right at my feet. I picked it up, thanked Jesus and my parents, and took off.”

The Falcons pushed the Saints around most of the evening. Santa Ana Valley had the edge in total yards, 212-162, including 183 yards rushing.

Tailback Jessie Brooks gained 135 yards in 20 carries, including a 42-yard touchdown run.