Falcons top Savanna

SANTA ANA - Darius Nacoste wanted to give his family visiting from Phoenix something to cheer about and in the process gave Santa Ana Valley life again.

Nacoste displayed stellar foot skills and danced his way to 281 yards rushing on 35 carries and three touchdowns on the ground to lead the Falcons past Savanna, 37-26, in the Orange League finale Friday at Santa Ana Stadium.

Santa Ana Valley (7-3, 3-2), the Rebels (7-3, 3-2) and Anaheim (after its loss to Western) have identical league records and a coin flip today will determine the final standings and possible at-large berths into the CIF-SS playoffs.

Nacoste, a sophomore, isn't an intimidating figure — 85-foot-9, 160 pounds — but he plays like one. His style is similar to DeShaun Foster (Tustin High, UCLA, Carolina Panthers), who gains most of his yards by spinning off tackles.

And when Nacoste didn't spin off tackles he slipped into open lanes, and with brilliant moves left defenders standing still. He also caught a 23-yard passing score from Rudy Penaloza.

"We knew this could be the last game of the season," said Nacoste, who scored on runs of 5, 13, and 28 yards. "We had to win it if we wanted to accomplish our goal of reaching the second round of the playoffs."

Stephen Jones rushed 120 yards on 11 carries and a score to lead Savanna.

Contact the writer: mmelendez@ocregister.com