Hill Becomes Winningest County Coach : Football: Santa Ana beats Fountain Valley, 17-7, giving him 192 victories.

Pop open the soda bottles. Slap high-fives all around. Coach Dick is King of the Hill.

After five unsuccessful attempts this season, Santa Ana Coach Dick Hill finally won the 192nd game of his high school coaching career in Orange County as the Saints defeated Fountain Valley, 17-7, in a Sunset League game Thursday night in front of 650 at Santa Ana Stadium.

Hill, who was tied at 191 victories with former Loara Coach Herb Hill as the winningest high school coach in the county, was carried on the shoulders of his players and received a standing ovation from the Santa Ana fans as the gun went off to end the game. He kissed his wife, Jackie, at midfield and was hugged by some of his grandchildren.

Santa Ana High principal Andrew Hernandez presented Hill with a plaque for the achievement as the Saint players shouted, “For he’s a jolly good fellow!”

Hill was all smiles while the Santa Ana supporters continued to whoop it up.

“I’m very grateful,” said Hill, 63. “I’ve had a tremendous opportunity be a part of these great football teams.”

For a time, however, it seemed as if the victory again would elude Hill.

Fountain Valley (1-4-1, 1-2 in league) tried to put a damper on Hill’s potential party by scoring on a one-yard run by quarterback Ryan Bertoni with 5 minutes 57 seconds remaining in the second period to take a 7-0 lead.

The Barons held that edge at halftime but Santa Ana (1-5, 1-1) got fired up in the third quarter.

“You have adjustments to make, so we made a few at that time (halftime),” Hill said. “We started executing better . . . They (Santa Ana players) played so hard.”

Tailback Kevin Pola, who rushed for 97 yards in 22 carries, began the Saint comeback with a one-yard touchdown run with 5:41 to play in the third quarter to tie the score, 7-7. He then put Santa Ana ahead, 14-7, on another one-yard run early in the final quarter that capped an 11-play, 66-yard drive by the Saints. Key plays in the drive were a 17-yard pass from quarterback Joey Martinez to fullback Armando Gonzales and a 21-yard pass from Martinez to Pola.

Jorge Perez iced the game for Santa Ana with a 20-yard field goal with 1:34 left. Fountain Valley moved the ball to the Saint 11-yard line on a pass interference call against Santa Ana with no time remaining, but Bertoni misfired on a pass to end the game.

Martinez completed nine of 14 passes, including all seven he attempted in the second half, for 123 yards. Bertoni was 10 of 24 for 130 yards.

The Santa Ana defense played exceptionally well, holding Fountain Valley on five fourth-down plays, including a fourth-and-one and a fourth-and-four.

The winningest football coaches in Orange County high school history:

Coach Yrs Record 1. Dick Hill 25 192-86-3 2. Herb Hill 31 191-114-11 3. Clare Van Hoorbeke 23 190-49-10 4. Shorty Smith 32 166-98-11 5. Bob Lester 20 158-58-8