Santa Ana Looks to Regain Its Momentum Against OCC

Santa Ana Coach Dave Ogas doesn’t want to wait any longer for his team to get going in the right direction.

Last season, Santa Ana started 0-3 but finished with eight consecutive victories. The Dons are 0-2 this season going into tonight’s 7 p.m. Mission Conference game against host Orange Coast (1-1).

Santa Ana is coming off a 42-15 loss to Mt. San Antonio but it wasn’t all bad news. Camron King, a freshman from Savanna High, rushed for 99 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Sophomore fullback Spencer Frost, who missed the first game with a knee injury, also returned and rushed for 34 yards in four carries, but more importantly blocked well for King.

“He knocked [Mt. SAC’s] middle linebacker backward a bunch of times,” Ogas said. “His blocking is what really opened up our running game.”

Orange Coast is coming off a 20-16 victory over Saddleback and looking for its first two-game winning streak since 1995. First-year quarterback Jared Flint struggled with Saddleback’s blitzing early and was removed from the game in the second quarter. He returned to start the third quarter and rolled out away from the pass rush. OCC also went to some quick screens and Flint finished with 218 yards passing, including two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Ivan Mercer.

In other Mission Conference games:

Cerritos (1-1) vs. Golden West (0-2), Orange Coast, 1 p.m.--Golden West must improve its running attack that was limited to minus-18 yards in a 75-7 loss to Long Beach. The Rustlers have 28 net yards rushing in two games.

Long Beach (2-0) vs. Fullerton (1-1), CS Fullerton, 7 p.m.--Fullerton’s defense, which gave up 57 points in a loss to El Camino last week, faces a much more difficult challenge this week. Long Beach, ranked second in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire, is averaging 61 points and 479 yards a game.

Saddleback (0-2) at El Camino (2-0), 7 p.m.--Saddleback, despite blowing a 16-0 halftime lead in the loss to OCC last week, had some positive things happen. The offensive line was solid in helping freshman Julio Peraza rush for 225 yards and the defense limited OCC to zero net yards rushing in 26 carries.

El Camino, ranked eighth in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire, is averaging 60 points and 439 yards a game.