Santa Ana was 0-10 in 2013. The Saints’ average losing margin was 32 points.
They went 6-5 and improved tremendously in 2014, Charlie TeGantvoort’s first season as their coach. Santa Ana went 8-3 last year.
The Saints now are 13-0 and about to play in the CIF-SS Division 13 championship game.
How did this happen?
“Blood, prayers and Scotch tape,” TeGantvoort said Monday.
NOTES
var _ndnq = _ndnq || []; _ndnq.push([’embed’]);
http://launch.newsinc.com/js/embed.js
• The CIF-SS finals on Fiday with an Orange County team participating are (home teams listed second): Division 2, San Clemente vs. Murrieta Valley, 7:30 p.m.; Division 3, Edison vs. La Mirada, 7:30 p.m.; Division 4, Corona del Mar vs. Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth, 7 p.m.; and Division 8, Burbank vs. Yorba Linda, 7 p.m.
• The finals Saturday with an O.C. team: Division 1, St. John Bosco vs. Mater Dei at Angel Stadium, 7:30 p.m.; Division 5, Calabasas vs. Capistrano Valley, 7 p.m.; Division 13, Santa Ana vs. Rancho Christian of Temecula, 7 p.m.
• CIF-SS spokesman Thom Simmons said Santa Ana and Rancho Christian indicated they might request that their game be changed to Friday.
• Until this season, Santa Ana had not won a playoff game since 1989.
• Rancho Christian coach Jim Kunau was head coach for many years at Orange Lutheran, and later coached for one season at Canyon.
• Mater Dei is 3-4-1 in CIF-SS championship games at Angel Stadium. The Monarchs’ most recent final there was in 2013 when they lost to St. John Bosco in the Pac-5 Division championship game.
• The Anaheim-Mater Dei AAAA Division semifinal in 1966 drew 33,374 to what was then called Anaheim Stadium. That is the second-largest playoff crowd in CIF-SS football history. The largest was 41,383, which watched Anaheim play Downey in the major-division championship game at the Coliseum in 1956.
• The football season continues after this week with the CIF regional and state championship games. Only division champions will be included. The pairings for the Southern and Northern regionals will be announced Sunday. There are 13 divisions, including an Open Division.
• One Southern California team and one Northern California representative are selected to the Open Division. Those teams go straight the CIF State Open Division championship game and do not play in the regionals round.
• Regional games will be played at sites selected by host schools on Dec. 9 and 10. Those sites can be the host schools’ on-campus stadiums.
• Winners of the Northern California and Southern California Regionals advance to the CIF State Championships that will be played Dec. 16 and 17. Five of those games (Open Division, Division 1-AA, 1-A, 2-AA, 2-A) will be played at Sacramento State. The eight other state championship games will be held at various host sites throughout California.
Contact the writer: sfryer@scng.com
