Santa Ana Valley Shuts Down Canyon

ORANGE —  Santa Ana Valley took advantage of three second-half Canyon turnovers Friday night to notch a 21-0 Century League victory, dampening the Comanches’ homecoming game on a soggy El Modena High School field.

Canyon (4-4, 0-3 in league), winner of its first four games this season, lost its fourth consecutive game to virtually drop out of playoff contention. The Falcons (3-4-1, 1-1-1) combined a tough defense with their opportunistic offense to remain in the playoff picture.

The Falcon defense, led by Corey Schuld, Cesar Correa, Juan Almazan, Eduardo Tapia, Jerry Soto, Phillip Fulivai and Porfirio Arellano, limited Canyon’s offense to 48 yards rushing, including no yards in the second half, and 73 yards passing.

After a scoreless first half, Santa Ana Valley finally received a break when Almazan recovered a fumble of a Casey Wilson pass reception on the Comanche 35. Two plays later, Falcon quarterback Aaron Tuioti hit Alfredo Macias with a 30-yard scoring pass with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

Schuld blunted the next Canyon series with the recovery of Joel Reese’s fumble on the Comanche 23. Vaaiti Sio later scored on a one-foot plunge for Santa Ana Valley. Canyon’s Tom Stapleton blocked Israel Hernandez’s conversion kick for a 13-0 Falcon lead.

Canyon quarterback Brian Jalowiec, who was playing for starter Gunnar Strunz, mounted a fourth-quarter comeback drive. Strunz saw only limited action in the second half as a wide receiver due to disciplinary reasons.

Jalowiec hit wide receivers Paul Bottiaux with a 21-yard pass and Greg Jacobs with a 35-yard pass to the Falcon 25. But Almazan again thwarted the Comanches when he intercepted the next Jalowiec pass on the 24.

Falcon sophomore running back Dwayne Cherrington, who had been limited to 16 yards in 11 carries, put the game out of reach when he broke through the middle and raced 75 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Tuioti ran for the two-point conversion and a 21-0 lead.