Orange Gets a Lesson From Santa Ana Valley

Those who thought Santa Ana Valley’s nonleague success was a fluke might want to reconsider.

The Orange Panthers had not lost a game on the field (two games were forfeited due to an ineligible player), but they were no match for the Falcons, who registered a 27-0 victory in a Century League opener before an estimated 900 at Santa Ana Stadium.

Santa Ana Valley running back Beau Wallace, behind an offensive line that pushed Orange around, outgained the Panthers by himself. Wallace rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns, including the final score on a one-yard plunge late in the third quarter, and passed for 23 more on a fake punt for 207 total yards.

Orange had 103 yards.

“They just dominated us,” said Orange Coach Dick Hill, whose team dropped to 3-3, 0-1. “Now, we’ll just have to regather and play some ball the rest of the year. We better learn from this.”

While praising Wallace and quarterback Jason Parrott--32 yards passing and 35 yards rushing with a touchdown, filling in for injured starter Ricky Chavez (broken thumb), who returns next week--Valley Coach Scott Orloff said he was proud of his defense, which intercepted two passes and recovered three fumbles.

“We are so much better on defense this year,” said Orloff, whose team moved up to 5-1, 1-0. “And I felt with our offensive line we could drive the ball on them. I feel both lines are playing as good as anyone’s.”

Wallace went a step further. “I think our line intimidated them,” he said, pointing out the 15-play, 86-yard drive that took up eight minutes of the second quarter and gave Valley a 14-0 lead. “We let their defense dictate what we wanted to do, because we felt how ever they lined up, we could match it.”

There was some thought by the Valley staff that Chavez might see some game action if the offense was ineffective and Wallace had to struggle for yardage. But that never happened.

Wallace accumulated 149 yards by halftime, and handled the ball on all but nine of the Falcon’s 30 first half plays. Both first half touchdowns came in the second quarter, on four-yard runs.