SANTA ANA – Santa Ana senior Charles Hughes is the type of running back who has the speed and moves to create sizable gains on his own.
Give Hughes the types of openings he had Thursday and he will deliver a great game.
Hughes ran for 281 yards and five touchdowns in the Saints’ 49-36 win over St. Margaret’s in the Orange Coast League opener for both at Santa Ana Stadium.
“The linemen executed every play,” said Hughes (6-0, 195), who finished with 30 carries. “That’s what made my success tonight.”
The Saints offensive line of Jose Carrasco, Emilio Mendoza, Christian Murillo, Fabian Navarro and Fabian Ramos created lanes all night for Hughes.
“There were a bunch of holes open for me,” he said, “and I just ran right through them.”
Hughes scored on runs of 22, 24, 80 and 2 yards in the first half in which he rushed for 241 yards on 19 carries. He added a 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Santa Ana senior Charles Hughes rushed for 281 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 49-36 win over St. Margaret’s…. pic.twitter.com/QEz3CBgNSX
— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) September 15, 2023
Santa Ana senior quarterback Sergio Torres, All-Orange Coast League first team last season, scored on a 1-yard run and threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Cristian Ramos.
St. Margaret’s smooth-throwing senior quarterback Max Ruff completed 22 of 31 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns including a 36-yard touchdown run.
Santa Ana (3-2 overall) plays another Orange Coast League game next week at Estancia.
St. Margaret’s (1-4) plays a league game next week against defending league champion Orange at El Modena High.
Saints coach Rory Schoonmaker, in his his first year as the head coach after six years as the team’s offensive coordinator, said the Saints have not had a back like Hughes for several seasons.
“He’s definitely an explosive kid who we need to get out in space a little more often so he doesn’t have to do those hard in-between the tackles, break (away) from tackles runs,” Schoonmaker said. “He ran really well.”
St. Margaret’s scored on its game-opening possession, a 12-yard touchdown pass from Ruff to Will Viola. Santa Ana tied it on Hughes’ 22 yard run.
The Tartans’ Maverick Young pulled in a long pass from Ruff for a 78-yard touchdown play and a 14-7 lead with one minute left in the first quarter.
The Saints then drove 80 yards on 10 plays, seven of which were Hughes runs including a 24-yard touchdown run and a 13-yard Hughes reception to tie it 14-14.
St. Margaret’s took the lead again on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Ruff to Sam Orellana. Ruff rolled left, pivoted and rolled right before throwing to an open Orellana who dodged three Saints on his way to the end zone and a 21-14 lead.
Hughes followed with his 80-yard touchdown run to tie it 21-21. After a failed fourth-down try by St. Margaret’s gave the Saints the ball at midfield, Hughes ran for 26 yards and a few plays later scored on a 2-yard run for Santa Ana’s first lead 28-21 with 52 seconds remaining in the half.
St. Margaret’s Nathan Kim kicked a 31-yard field goal on the final snap of the half, making it 28-24 at halftime.
The Torres-to-Ramos touchdown pass gave the Saints a 35-24 lead early in the third quarter. Santa Ana next assembled a 15-play, 63-yard drive that started with 6:51 to go in the third quarter and ended with Hughes’ 1-yard run that was the first play of the fourth quarter for a 42-24 lead. St. Margaret’s got its two touchdown runs from Ruff in the fourth quarter with Torres’ 1-yard touchdown run sandwiched in between.
