COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Dons Blow Out Southwestern, 72-21

Four touchdowns in 39 seconds. Really. No kidding.

Rancho Santiago pulled off the seemingly impossible feat in a 72-21 blowout of Southwestern in a Mission Conference Central Division game Saturday at Santa Ana Stadium.

The firestorm of points started when Ernie Wilson scored on a 17-yard run with 37 seconds left in the half. The touchdown put the Dons ahead, 23-7.

Southwestern then had the ball for one play but quarterback Leon Mayette, who was hit by Ray Gonzalez, fumbled. Allen Whitten recovered the ball at the Southwestern 19.

Quarterback Simon Fuentes completed a touchdown pass to Mike Windsor on the next play and the Dons were ahead, 30-7, with 22 seconds left in the quarter.

Two very high and somewhat short kickoffs by Casey Wilson set up the next two touchdowns. Wilson also made 10 extra points.

Southwestern’s William Faulkner started to run before he got control of the ensuing kickoff and fumbled the ball. Fernando Salas returned it 24 yards for a touchdown with seven seconds left and Rancho Santiago was ahead, 37-7.

No one for Southwestern bothered to field the next kickoff and and Rancho Santiago’s Peter Veazey grabbed it at the Apaches’ 25.

Two plays later, Fuentes completed a 13-yard scoring pass to tight end Casey Shine two seconds into the second quarter.

Fuentes, despite playing less than two quarters, had three touchdown passes, giving him 16 this season. He needs one more to set a Rancho Santiago single-season record.

The victory was the seventh in a row for Rancho Santiago (7-1, 4-0), which is the second-ranked team in Southern California. The Dons are eighth in the J.C. Grid-Wire national rankings.

But the one-sided victory didn’t please Rancho Santiago Coach Dave Ogas as much as some might expect.

“I don’t like to be on either side of scores like this,” he said. “It’s hard to keep the intensity up.”

Rancho Santiago will need a more complete effort Saturday when the Dons play Fullerton for first place in the division in a 7 p.m. game at Titan Stadium. The teams are tied at 4-0 in the division with two games left.

Southwestern is 0-7-1, 0-4-1.

In another Mission Conference game:

Golden West 21, Saddleback 21--Shad Hinchen returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown with 1:03 left to play, earning the Gauchos (1-5-2, 1-1-2) the tie at Orange Coast College and spoiling the Rustlers’ (2-5-2, 2-2-1) homecoming.

Golden West took a 21-10 lead with 4:09 left in the third quarter when Damien Cook scored on a two-yard run. Cook rushed for a game-high 149 yards.

The Gauchos closed the gap to 21-13 on a 36-yard Tim Knutson field goal, then earned the tie in the closing minutes.

Hinchen took the Donny McMahan punt at his 11, found a gap down the right sideline, and went the distance for the score. It was the longest punt return touchdown in Saddleback history.

The Gauchos scored both touchdowns with their punt return team on the field. In the first quarter, a bad Rustler snap from punt formation got loose in the end zone and Deric Darensbourg fell on it for a Gaucho score.