Santa Ana Is Shut Out for Fourth Time, but News Isn’t All Bad

Although Santa Ana suffered its fourth consecutive shutout this season in a 20-0 loss to Long Beach Millikan, you wouldn’t have known it by the teams’ reactions as they left the field Thursday night at Santa Ana Stadium.

The Santa Ana players were all smiles, congratulating each other on a great game. At the other end, the Rams filed off the field with their heads down.

Long Beach Millikan (4-0) came into the game expecting to run over the Saints (0-4), who were missing 11 players because of injuries, including starting running back and safety Omar Gomez. Gomez, who twisted an ankle in practice this week, is also the backup quarterback.

But despite the injuries, Santa Ana’s defense gave up the the fewest points in a game this season and the offense held up under some brutal hitting.

Saint quarterback Frank Martinez, 5-9, 170 pounds, took some of the hardest hits, including a monstrous hit the third quarter by 6-foot-1, 270-pound lineman Michael Odom that slammed Martinez’s head back into his pads. But after only a few seconds on the turf, Martinez was up and back in the huddle.

“We had a rule tonight,” Santa Ana Mark Miller said. “[Martinez] couldn’t get hurt. He kept getting up off the turf, with grass stuck in his mask and he’d go right back out there. I’m extremely happy with this team’s heart.”

Millikan scored on two touchdown passes from Dan Beaudry to Kyle Moore and two Ken Caceres field goals.