El Toro Ends the Year Perfectly, 26-10

Even with El Toro High School quarterback Bret Johnson having a subpar night, by his standards, the Chargers had more than enough weapons to defeat Santa Ana, 26-10, Saturday night in the Southern Conference championship game played before 8,593 in Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium.

Johnson, Orange County’s top-rated quarterback who entered the finale with 2,409 yards passing, did throw for 134 yards and two touchdowns, but completed only 10 of 24 passes (41%), well below his 62% completion rate.

But have no fear, Aly Diaz and the El Toro defense were there. Diaz, a senior transfer from Twentynine Palms, rushed for 125 yards in 20 carries and scored once, and the Charger defense limited Santa Ana to 138 total yards, including 19 in the second half.

El Toro, which won the Central Conference championship in 1982, finished with a perfect 14-0 record, while the Saints closed at 12-2.

The game was close heading into the fourth period, with El Toro maintaining a 16-10 lead, but the Chargers broke the game open, thanks to Shane Brisbin’s 35-yard field goal, Johnson’s six-yard touchdown pass to Matt Hoelker, and a relentless defense.

The Chargers sacked Santa Ana quarterback Richard Fanti three times in the fourth period (two by lineman Adam Demalignon) and didn’t allow a first down. El Toro held Fanti to 14 yards passing and 15 rushing for the game.

Saints tailback Robert Lee, who had rushed for 1,850 yards and 24 touchdowns, finished with 80 yards, but his longest carry of the game was eight yards. He never reached the end zone.

Lee got an indication of things to come when, in the first quarter, he appeared to break free on a run around the right side. But Charger defensive end Sam Weaver stood Lee straight up with a crunching tackle, limiting him to just three yards.

“We hit hard, and they didn’t expect it,” El Toro linebacker Scott Ross said. “They’re a great team, but it looked like they kind of died a bit toward the end. You could see it in their linemen’s faces. They were tired and they weren’t yelling.”

The Saints played without starting defensive lineman Tavis Shippen, who drew a three-day suspension from school on Thursday, so offensive guard Jose Avalos had to play both ways for most of the game.

Still, Santa Ana’s defense applied plenty of pressure on Johnson, who spent most of the evening trying to escape the rush. Many of his passes were off the mark, but he took advantage of the Saints’ blitzing defense by burning Santa Ana with four screen passes for 63 yards.

“If I had a couple of more seconds on some deep passes, we could have come away with a big victory,” Johnson, a junior, said. “But they did a good job on the rush. They sent more guys than we had to block.”

There never seemed to be enough guys around to tackle Diaz, who followed up last week’s 255-yard, four-touchdown performance with another excellent game.

“Everyone played real well,” Charger Coach Bob Johnson said. “You can’t really say it was our offense or our defense.”

Santa Ana didn’t score in the second half but had an excellent opportunity to take the lead before halftime when Efrain Islas intercepted a Johnson pass and returned it 28 yards to the Charger 30 with 1:03 remaining.

But three plays failed to produce a first down, and David Grisafe blocked Julian Rea’s 39-yard field goal attempt with 38 seconds to go.

The Saints got off to a good start when Lee returned the opening kickoff 31 yards, and Santa Ana drove 59 yards in 9 plays, Islas taking a reverse 10 yards around the right side, for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The big plays on the drive were Islas’ 14-yard run and Fanti’s 20-yarder.

El Toro came right back and drove from its 33-yard line to the Santa Ana 19, but Johnson’s fourth-down pass attempt to Miller was incomplete.

The Charger defense then held, forcing a punt. But George Tuioti couldn’t handle a low snap, picked up the loose ball and was tackled at the eight-yard line by Scott Ross.

Three plays later, Diaz scored on a one-yard run, and Scott Miller, the holder on PATs, took the snap and ran around the right side for a two-point conversion and an 8-7 lead with 11:57 left in the second quarter.

Santa Ana went ahead, 10-8, on Rea’s 18-yard field goal, but El Toro went back on top, 16-10, on Johnson’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Chris McCarthy with 3:48 left in the second quarter.

Santa Ana gambled again in the fourth quarter when Tuioti, in punt formation from the Saints’ end zone, attempted a pass to Islas, but the ball skipped off the receiver’s hands, and El Toro took over at the seven-yard line.

Diaz ran for one yard, and Johnson rolled right and passed to Hoelker, who made a nice, diving catch in the end zone to cap the Chargers’ scoring.