ORANGE COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL : Century League : Santa Ana Puts Canyon Away Early : Saints Dominate From Start, 27-13; Lee Gains 156 Yards

By the end of the first quarter Thursday night, Santa Ana High School’s Century League-opening game against Canyon appeared to be a rout.

Santa Ana had Canyon down, 14-0. Running back Robert Lee had almost 100 yards rushing. And the Saint defense had limited Canyon to just five plays for seven yards and no first downs.

Though Canyon managed to play Santa Ana even the rest of the game, that first quarter was too much to overcome as the Saints prevailed, 27-13, in front of 1,500 in Fred Kelly Stadium.

Lee, who returned to the Santa Ana lineup after sitting out last week’s game for disciplinary reasons, rushed for 156 yards in 21 carries. George Tuioti, Santa Ana quarterback, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another.

Lee returned Thursday night, but the Saints played without two other starters, receiver Royal Wilbon, and tight end Albert Ruiz. The two were benched for what Coach Dick Hill called attendance problems.

The Saints (5-1 overall, 1-0 in league) hardly missed a beat, however.

“I’m not too worried about scoring a lot of points,” Hill said. “Actually, they (Canyon) are a good football team. We moved the ball well, but they would stop us and then we’d get going.”

Except for the second quarter, when the Saints sputtered offensively, the Comanches were never in contention. Canyon (2-4, 0-1) cut the deficit to 14-7 with 2:52 left in the half.

The Comanches, taking advantage of good field position after Lee fumbled deep in Santa Ana territory, drove in from 18 yards out. Quarterback Joe Furukawa, who threw for just 28 yards, completing 4 of 12, sneaked over from the one for the score.

However, Santa Ana put the game away on the next series, driving 67 yards in 9 plays. The touchdown came on a 16-yard pass from Tuioti to Julius Fletcher, giving Santa Ana a 21-7 lead with 26 seconds left in the half.

The teams matched touchdowns in the fourth quarter, Tuioti throwing for his second on a 38-yard pass to Estrus Crayton, and reserve quarterback Todd Burns hitting Tony DaCosta for a 25-yard score on the game’s final play.