ANAHEIM – Santa Ana Valley capped off its regular season with a 62-20 Orange League victory over Savanna on Friday night at Glover Stadium, thanks in large part to five touchdowns from senior Christian Hernandez.
Hernandez rushed for 185 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries. He also added a 62-yard interception return for a score.
Santa Ana Valley coach Larry Mohr said his Falcons (6-4, 4-1) are peaking at the right time. “People don’t realize all the injuries that we’ve had,” Mohr said. “… Now we’re finally getting healthy.”
The Falcons finished second in the Orange League behind Katella (10-0, 5-0) and will contend for an at-large bid in the CIF-SS Div. 12 playoffs. Savanna (4-6, 1-4) finished fifth out of six Orange League teams and is not expected to make the playoffs.
Santa Ana Valley senior Andres Flores took the opening kickoff 90 yards for a score, one of three Falcons TDs in the quarter. The Rebels rebounded to close the gap to 21-14.
The Rebels offense was dormant after that though, and did not score until the last play of the game, while the Falcons added three touchdowns in both the second and third quarters to pull away.
On his first pass, Falcons QB Sherman Thomas hit Jerry Barreras for a 70-yard TD. Thomas was 6 for 9 passing for 160 yards.
Savanna junior quarterback Ryley Smith completed five of his 12 attempts, threw a touchdown and one interception.
The Rebels’ most effective offensive weapon was senior Matt Abundis, who rushed for 90 yards on five carries.
Santa Ana Valley scored three touchdowns in each of the first three quarters but did not score in the fourth. A running clock began at the 4:45 mark of the third quarter.
