SANTA ANA – One play that happened at Santa Ana Stadium on Saturday night might just be the most significant moment of this season’s three-team race for the Golden West League title.
Jonathan Briseno, Santa Ana’s offensive trailblazer, jetted upfield along the Ocean View sideline for a 41-yard gain that came to a harsh ending.
Briseno was brought to the ground hard by a Seahawks defender, resulting in the leg injury that forced him to miss nearly half of the Saints’ 26-20 home loss.
In the period Briseno was out – from the 7:20 point of the second quarter until 11:05 remained in the fourth – league co-leader Santa Ana was outscored 19-7 by first-place Ocean View.
Briseno’s replacement at quarterback, Fabian Martinez, had never formally played the position until being pressed into duty.
“I was kind of scared,” said Martinez, who gave the Saints 189 total yards (105 passing, 36 rushing, 56 receiving). “I had to work my confidence up.”
It was quite a win for the Seahawks (6-2, 3-0), and a road outing receiver Tyler Clay should long cherish. The 5-foot-9 senior out-jumped a defender for an influential 44-yard catch in the second quarter, added 17-yard touchdown grab in the third, and scored on a 5-yard run in the fourth.
Santa Ana (5-3, 2-1) had been averaging 37 points per game during the four-game winning streak it carried into this game. The Saints will look to regain some of that momentum next week, when the Golden West League plot thickens at Westminster (6-2, 3-0).
“There’s not a time we don’t think we can beat anybody in the league,” Martinez said. “We’ll always compete.”
