Santa Ana Defense Stifles Palomar

Santa Ana’s defense came up with several big plays and the Dons got a safety and field goal late in the fourth quarter to upset Palomar, 19-17, in a Mission Conference game at Santa Ana Stadium.

Santa Ana took the lead for good when Jose Perez made a 33-yard field goal with 1 minute 55 seconds to play. The kick slipped just inside the right goal post.

Then it was up to the defense once again to stop Palomar, the top-ranked team in Southern California.

The Comets reached the Santa Ana 41, but on fourth down and seven with 34 seconds left, Comet quarterback Greg Cicero was called for crossing the line of scrimmage before releasing a pass, a penalty that includes an automatic loss of down.

Santa Ana (5-3, 2-1) took over and ran out the clock to move into a first-place tie with Palomar (6-2, 2-1), Fullerton and Riverside in the Central Division.

“This one ranks right up there with the best,” Santa Ana Coach Dave Ogas said.

Santa Ana cornerback James Farley was all smiles afterward as friends and coaches joked about the interception and sure touchdown he dropped on the Palomar 18 in the final quarter.

But two plays later, Palomar snapped the ball out of the end zone from punt formation and the safety cut the Comets’ lead to 17-16 with 7:28 left.

“I’m not going to live that one down,” said Farley, “but I can laugh about it now.”

Alex Romero, the Dons’ other cornerback, has been bothered by a sore ankle for three weeks, but was able to deflect a field-goal attempt to end one Palomar threat.

Palomar drove inside the Santa Ana 10 two more times but didn’t score. Alex Blanco recovered a fumble at the five-yard line to stop the second threat.

Brandon Lambert stopped running back Keiki Misipeka for a two-yard loss at the Santa Ana five on fourth down early in the final quarter.

“It was a simple blitz,” Lambert said. “Coach told us that we were all going and we were either going to stop them or they were going to score.”

Grant Wagner, Santa Ana’s freshman quarterback, completed 12 of 22 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns. He was three-for-three for 49 yards on the drive that resulted in the winning field goal. The key play was a 34-yard completion to wide receiver Jeremiah Armendariz for a first down at the Palomar 26.