Rancho Santiago Stomps Fullerton

Kody Miller blocked a punt and a field-goal attempt and each set up a touchdown as Rancho Santiago beat Fullerton, 24-3, in a Mission Conference Central Division football game Saturday on a slick field at Fullerton High.

Miller’s second block came in the Fullerton end zone and teammate Siisiialafia Liufau recovered the ball for a touchdown.

The score came with 8 minutes 20 seconds left in the first half and gave the Dons a 14-0 lead.

The play was set up when Rancho Santiago’s Jerry Arguello punted 47 yards to the Fullerton one. The Hornets advanced the ball three yards on three plays before Miller’s block.

Arguello added a 31-yard field goal with five minutes left in the third quarter. The field goal was his 15th, a Rancho Santiago single-season record.

Rancho Santiago’s first touchdown was set up when Miller, a freshman defensive back, blocked a field-goal attempt. The lengthy scramble for the ball resulted in minus-42 yards in team rushing for Fullerton and a Rancho Santiago first down at the Fullerton 24.

“I laid out for it and I hit it,” Miller said about the punt. “[On the field goal] I could have walked up to that one and blocked it basically.”

Two plays after the blocked field-goal attempt, quarterback Matt Mitchell threw nine yards to tight end Aaron Kinney for a touchdown and 7-0 lead with 31 seconds left in the first quarter.

Mark Hastings also blocked a 47-yard field-goal attempt for Rancho Santiago (6-4, 4-2), which took a 32-31-4 lead in the series that is the oldest in the state.

Fullerton ends 5-5, 3-3.