Rancho Santiago Hopes to Stay the Course

A couple of teams going in opposite directions meet today when Rancho Santiago and Orange Coast play in a Mission Conference Central Division football game at 1 p.m. at Santa Ana Stadium.

The direction is positive for Rancho Santiago (3-2, 1-0). The Dons have won three in a row and are very much in the race for the division title.

At Orange Coast (1-5, 0-3), the streak isn’t such a pleasant thing. The Pirates have lost four in a row and are playing for pride.

Rancho Santiago has been fortunate to have some depth at quarterback because starter Mark Fausto (624 yards and five touchdowns) suffered a knee injury two weeks ago and was replaced by Matt Mitchell (232 yards and one touchdown). Tailback Jermaine Gray has rushed 484 yards.

Much of the Pirates’ troubles have come from their defense’s inability to slow the opposition. Teams are averaging 446 yards per game and have scored 31 touchdowns. The Pirates have been impressive at times on offense.

Chet Walker took over at tailback last week for William League (hamstring injury) and rushed for 146 yards. He scored on runs of five, eight and 80 yards and also had a 30-yard pass reception for another touchdown.

In other Central Division games:

Palomar (3-3, 1-1) vs. Fullerton (3-2, 2-0), Fullerton High, 7 p.m.--Fullerton has also won three in a row but faces Palomar’s talented defense that is second best in the 13-team conference, giving up 256 yards per game. Palomar held Golden West to 13 yards rushing in a 31-7 victory last week. Fullerton kicker Chris Diaz has made seven of eight field-goal attempts and 12 of 12 extra-points tries this season.

Golden West (1-4, 1-1) at Saddleback (6-0, 2-0), 7 p.m.--Golden West brings some strong offensive weapons in quarterback Brian Baughman (975 yards and four touchdowns) and tailback Charles Chatman, who has 410 yards rushing and five touchdowns. He has also caught 16 passes for 149 yards and one touchdown.

Saddleback is ranked second in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire.