Big Quarter Helps Santa Ana Valley Beat Orange

Dwayne Cherrington rushed for 149 yards in 15 carries and quarterback Tristan Lynch added 118 in 12 carries to lead Santa Ana Valley to an 18-13 victory over Orange in a Century League game Thursday at Santa Ana Stadium.

Santa Ana Valley (4-4, 1-2 in league) scored all its points in the second quarter. Lynch got the Falcons on the board by taking the ball on an option play and running 70 yards for a touchdown to give Orange a 7-6 lead.

The Falcons’ special teams swung the momentum to Santa Ana Valley on the ensuing kickoff. Adrian Buenrostro knocked the ball loose from Orange’s Eric Whitted at the 22-yard line. Alfredo Macias scooped up the ball and ran it in, giving Santa Ana Valley the lead for good, 12-7.

When the Falcons got the ball back on their four with 1 minute 25 seconds remaining in the first half, they seemed content to run out the clock. But one play later, Cherrington turned a basic off-tackle play into an 84-yard touchdown run for an 18-6 halftime lead.

Orange (3-5, 0-3) capped the scoring in the fourth quarter. Raul Vital, who replaced starting quarterback Andy Lauridsen late in the third quarter, hit Art Bell on a 65-yard scoring pass down the right sideline.