Dons Surprise Orange Coast With a Big Rout of Their Own

Santa Ana, coming off a 51-point loss, stunned Orange Coast, 52-6, in a Mission Conference football game Saturday at Santa Ana Stadium.

The victory, in which Santa Ana defensive back Alex Romero had a safety and returned an interception 63 yards for a touchdown, came about partly because of a change in attitude in Santa Ana Coach Dave Ogas.

After the Dons (1-2) were thrashed by Mt. San Antonio, 61-10, on Sept. 18, Ogas told his players not to be embarrassed.

Then he had to tell people who asked about the loss while he was scouting OCC’s 42-25 victory over Saddleback later that night. At that point Ogas decided he was embarrassed and he told the players about his feelings Monday.

A week of meetings and hard practices and the return of some key starters, including offensive lineman Dave Wilford (sore knee) and defensive back James Farley (who became eligible), resulted in a dominating performance. Running back Cameron King led the way on offense with 225 yards and three touchdowns in 35 carries.

The Dons’ day started well when Scott McMahon drilled a punt 71 yards that pinned OCC (2-1) inside its one. Romero then made a strong one-on-one tackle against Pirate running back Ray Ohrel two yards deep in the end zone with 13 minutes 24 seconds left in the first quarter.