SANTA ANA – As football coaches are sometimes wont to do, Segerstrom coach Mike Maceranka presented a bit of a paradox following Friday night’s 35-0 victory of previously undefeated Santa Ana.
“Seven-and-oh doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “It’s about who you’ve played.”
It was a sharp contrast to the man who, not a minute earlier, was bellowing with his Jaguars.
“Seven and what?” he’d yell.
“Seven and one!” his Jaguars (5-2-1, 3-0) would roar back. Regardless of whether Santa Ana had played any teams of note this season in accruing that 7-0 record coming into Friday night’s Golden West League game – the Saints had beaten teams a combined 12-40 – the 35-0 drubbing will be a point of pride for Segerstrom.
One of Maceranka’s points of emphasis this season is to see visible improvement from week to week. This week, facing a Santa Ana (7-1, 2-1) team known for its prolific rushing attack behind Jonathan and Jorge Briseno, Maceranka preached physicality. His reward: Shutting out a team averaging north of 45 points per game.
“They got zero points,” he said. “We played some defense.”
Impressive as the defense was, the offense, its rushing game in particular, deserves credit. Eight Jaguars carried the ball, grinding away for 292 yards on 49 carries.
Aside from Abel Diaz, who finished with 106 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, there wasn’t much explosive about the Jaguars’ game, which is not to say it was any less effective.
Segerstrom put together scoring drives of 12 plays and 60 yards, six plays and 53 yards, and 13 plays and 72 yards over 6 minutes, 39 seconds.
If it was physicality that Maceranka was looking for, it was precisely what he found.
“We’re getting more physical,” he said. “They’re a physical team and we took it to them tonight.”