Santa Ana Valley Falls Back

Santa Ana Valley Coach Scott Orloff was left grasping for answers Thursday night but only one came to mind.

“We were not focused on football,” he said.

What was clearly visible was a 25-12 loss to Bellflower. Not even a little cosmetic massaging of the score in the final quarter made the situation look any better.

A week ago, the Falcons had looked strong in a 20-14 victory over University. A week ago, the glass was half full.

“We need our players to learn that you have to play hard and concentrate week after week,” Orloff said. “We’re trying to take this program in a positive direction.”

Instead, the Falcons shoved it in reverse. They looked much like the program that has not been to the Southern Section playoffs since 1979.

Oh, things looked a little better in the end, after two fourth quarter touchdowns by Vaaiti Sio made the score respectable. But through three quarters, the Buccaneers (2-0) made the big plays. The Falcons (1-1) just made them possible.

--A blocked punt by Hollis Bush gave Bellflower the ball on the Santa Ana Valley 40. Lou Porch ran through two tacklers for a touchdown on the following play, giving the Buccaneers a 6-0 lead.

--Mark Hays turned a short completion into a 39-yard gain to the one in the second quarter. He bobbed and weaved through the Falcon secondary as if he were dodging tackling dummies. Quarterback Jay Young scored on the next play for a 12-0 lead.

--Hays struck again on the next possession, as he caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Young. The ball first went through the hands of defensive back Dwayne Cherrington.

At that point, even the Bellflower band knew. They burst into, “Hey, hey, hey ... goodby.” And it wasn’t even halftime yet.

“I thought we had a good defensive game plan,” Orloff said. “The kids didn’t execute.”

Hays made the most of those mental glitches. As if terrorizing the Falcon secondary wasn’t enough, he also shredded its front line, slipping through three tacklers on a 69-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Porch also found plenty of room to run. He finished with 115 yards, as the Buccaneers rushed for 247 yards.

“We had a bad week of practice and it showed,” Orloff said.

On offense, particularly.

Cherrington rushed for 126 yards last week but was held to 44 Thursday. Quarterback Tristen Lynch was the picture of efficiency against University, but was one of eight against Bellflower. He had four passes batted down and one intercepted.

Twice the Falcons got inside the 10. Both times they came away with nothing.