RECORDS

Spencer McCroskey - RB/DB (Sr.)
The senior running back and defensive back did the job on both sides of the ball as Santa Margarita won over Tustin. On offense, McCroskey rushed for 131 yards on 12 carries and scored one touchdown. On defense he registered an amazing 21 tackles. He was named the team (internal award) Offensive and Defensive “Player of the Game.” His 131 yards rushing also put him over the 1,000-yard threshold for the season.

Johnny Stanton - QB (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - It was an interesting scene for the Eagles in their 55-0 win over Trabuco Hills two weeks ago as Stanton not only completed 17 of his 21 pass attempts for 325 yards and three scores but he rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns. The Nebraska commit played in front of a crowd full of Nebraska fans and media, who were in town for the Cornhuskers’ game the next day against UCLA.

Ryan Wolpin - RB (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - During the Eagles’ 72-0 win over Carson, Wolpin set the school record for rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns in a game, according to team SID Adrian Peters. Wolpin carried the ball 16 times for 173 yards and six scores.

Ryan Wolpin - RB (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - In the week’s top game for matching state-ranked teams, Wolpin’s rushing was the key for the No. 12 Eagles in their 38-13 win over No. 23 El Toro in the Southern Section Playoffs. Wolpin racked up 218 yards and two scores on 26 carries and hopes for similar success in this week’s showdown with St. Bonaventure.

Sept. 6,
2013

Kyle Sweet - WR (Jr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - Sweet set three school receiving records in a controversial 34-31 double overtime loss to national power Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas. The junior hauled in a touchdown reception from quarterback K.J. Costello for 95 yards and caught a total of 13 passes for 294 yards. The yardage total earned Sweet a place in the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book, but it can’t change a blown call by a referee. A 24-yard pass to Grant Clancy in overtime was ruled an incomplete pass by referee Bob Yoakum after another official signaled it a touchdown. It was ruled incomplete, although video showed it should have been ruled a touchdown. Yoakum sent an apologetic email to coach Harry Welch that the veteran coach applauded. Costello, a sophomore, finished with 443 yards passing.

Rick Wade - DE (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - A defensive end committed to UCLA, Wade had 13 tackles and two sacks in Santa Margarita’s 26-21 win over Bishop Amat.

Kyle Sweet - WR (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - Sweet now owns Santa Margarita records for most catches and most yards in a game. He broke the record for receptions with 15 and had 201 yards and one touchdown in the 21-10 win over Dorsey (Los Angeles). Sweet had 294 yards in one game last year against Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas.

Kyle Sweet - WR (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - With the Eagles down early and big, he still stayed focused during a 41-10 loss to nationally ranked Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas. On the night, Sweet caught 10 passes for 199 yards.

K.J. Costello - QB (Jr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - Breaking his own school record for passes completed in a game and also earning a spot in our Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book, Costello completed 34 of his 47 pass attempts for 495 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for two scores as the Eagles came from behind in the fourth quarter to defeat Orange Lutheran 42-41. Costello already has been ranked as one of the top quarterbacks among the Class of 2016 in the nation.

Kyle Sweet - WR (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - While K.J. Costello was setting all sorts of records throwing the football, it was this senior wideout Kyle Sweet that matched his own school record for receptions in a game with 15 for 235 yards and two touchdowns during the Eagles’ 42-41 win over Orange Lutheran.

Grady Higgins - LB (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - OCVarsity’s “Defensive Player of the Week” had 12 tackles while forcing and recovering a fumble during the Eagles’ 22-17 win over Servite.

K.J. Costello - QB (Sr.)
Dylan Crawford - WR (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - Costello to Crawford is a connection that fans should get used to hearing and seeing when following the Eagles this season. While Costello passed for 432 yards and four touchdowns in a 59-14 victory versus Santiago (Corona), Crawford was on the receiving end of six passes that gained 176 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Malone Mataele - KR / DB (Jr.)
Southern California “Players of the Week” - Despite it coming in a losing effort by his team, Mataele’s performance was not a losing effort during Santa Margarita’s 48-21 loss to state No. 5 Mission Viejo. In fact, scoring two of the Eagles’ three touchdowns on the night while playing special teams against such a great foe is deserving of applause. Mataele scored those two touchdowns on kickoff returns, bringing one back 97 yards and another 94 yards. On defense, the junior two-way player also finished with eight total tackles and a pass deflection.

Grant Calcaterra - WR (Sr.)
Richard Wagner - QB (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - In the Eagles’ 37-7 win over Loyola, they bounced back from a loss to Mission Viejo thanks to huge totals from their WR-QB combo. Calcaterra, recruited as a tight end and committed to Oklahoma, tied a school record with three touchdown catches but even more impressively had 14 receptions for 292 yards. Wagner was reported a 11-for-11 at halftime with more than 200 yards. He threw some incompletions in the second half, but still ended 22-of-30 for 397 yards and three touchdowns.

Trey Green - RB (Sr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - Seeing all sorts of “green: in front of him when handed the football during a 48-35 win over Bishop Alemany, Green rushed for 240 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.

Chad Magyar - RB (Jr.)
State Stat Stars of the Week - Before the final game of the regular season, this junior’s season-high was 147 yards rushing in a game. In this contest, he easily surpassed that during a 49-24 win over Servite as he rushed for 264 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries.

Last week, in a 29-28 victory over JSerra of San Juan Capistrano that boosted Santa Margarita Catholic four spots to No. 14 in the most recent state rankings, and dropped JSerra to No. 17, Potter passed for 412 yards and two TDs, with 319 yards coming in the first half. Even so, the teams were knotted at 21-21 after two quarters. The host Eagles fell behind 28-21 after three quarters but Potter pulled a rabbit out of his helmet when after Taurian Nash scored on a 1-yard plunge head coach Anthony Rouzier decided to gamble and go for a deuce. Unlike the Las Vegas Raiders who failed at their attempt to win with a 2-point conversion, Potter and the Eagles succeeded when the 6-foot-4, 180-pound senior signal-caller dropped back to pass and threw a strike to Kyle Brody to close out the scoring. The final tally came with around nine minutes remaining and from there the Santa Margarita Catholic defense sealed the deal. For Potter, he got the 412 yards on 37 of 45 attempts. Not only did the 37 completions break his school record of 34 completions set last season, he now gets his name in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book a second time on the Most Completions (Game) list to go with last season’s performance. So far this season Potter has passed for 1,762 yards and 18 TDs with only one interception, and those are top 20 reported marks in the CIF Southern Section. We’re sure Jaxon would not only like to give a shout out to the defense for its fourth quarter efforts, but also to his favorite target Emmett Mosley. The junior wide receiver had 14 catches for 152 yards and one touchdown, and while neither of those marks makes the record rook, the 14 receptions ties for second best in school history.

Josh Ireland - RB (Jr.)
Ireland was a one-man wrecking crew in the Eagles’ win over University (Irvine). He rushed for 229 yards and two touchdowns (45 and 83 yards) and caught four passes for 71 yards and another score (8 yards).

Billy Newman - RB (Sr.)
Rushed for 353 yards on 33 carries and scored three touchdowns in the Eagles’ 38-24 win over Trabuco Hills. Established new single-game school records for yards (old record 279 by Josh Ireland in 1991) and carries (old record 29 by Josh Ireland in 1991).

John Minardi - WR / DB (Sr.)
In the first-round of the Southern Section Playoffs, Minardi, a team captain, had eight receptions for 113 yards and three touchdowns against Katella. On defense, he was stellar too with four tackles and an interception he returned for a touchdown.

Ashton White - RB (Jr.)
White had a career-high 33 carries for 215 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Eagles won 33-19 over Mater Dei. He also notched five tackles on defense. Also named Cox Communications “Player of the Game.”

River Cracraft - WR / DB (So.)
Reiley Higgins - WR (Sr.)
Cracraft, just a sophomore, played a key role in the 42-41 overtime victory over St. John Bosco. Cracraft had six receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown. He also had four tackles on defense and an interception that he returned 34 yards to set up the go-ahead score for Santa Margarita with six minutes remaining. Higgins caught eight passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns.

Johnny Stanton - QB (Jr.)
Santa Margarita avenged a loss to Tesoro from the previous year, defeating the Titans 39-7 in the 2nd annual of the Rumble at the Ranch. Quarterback Johnny Stanton threw was 11-of-16 passing fore 225 yards and two touchdowns. The very versatile player also rushed for 63 yards and one touchdown.

Ryan Wolpin - RB (Sr.)
Wolpin, a senior, finished the game with 174 yards rushing on 16 carries against Carson. He scored on runs of 9, 4, 11, 8, 35 and 50 yards to break a school record with six touchdowns in a single game.

K.J. Costello - QB (Jr.)
Costello set a school single-game record for completions in the Eagles’ 26-21 win against Bishop Amat. He completed 27-of-43 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns. Santa Margarita has had some excellent quarterbacks in the past, including Carson Palmer, Mark Sanchez and Johnny Stanton. Costello, a 6-foot-5 and 213 pound junior, has scholarship offers from Alabama, Michigan and several others.

Grady Higgins - LB (Sr.)
The senior linebacker racked up 12 total tackles and forced and recovered a key fumble at his 22-yard line late in the third quarter to help lead the Eagles to a 22-17 victory against Servite. After this game, Higgins had 212 career tackles -- eleventh in school history -- and led the Eagles this season in sacks (3 1/2) and forced fumbles (two).

K.J. Costello - QB (Sr.)
Costello completed 18-of-23 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns in the Eagles’ 59-14 road win over Santiago (Corona). The 6-foot-5, 208-pound senior, who committed to Stanford, has completed 70 percent of his passes for 773 yards and eight touchdowns with no interceptions in two games.

Caden Fitch - LB (Jr.)
The junior middle linebacker racked up a season-high 17 total tackles to help the Eagles defeat state-ranked Serra of Gardena, 27-14, in the first round of the Southern Section Playoffs.

Trent Mosley - WR/DB (Soph.)
Mosley caught 12 passes for 221 yards (18.4 average) and two touchdowns, rushed for two touchdowns, collected 114 yards in kick return yardage and compiled 351 all-purpose yards in the Eagles’ 50-42 loss to Servite. This season, Mosley (5-10, 180) has rushed for 14 touchdowns, has 10 receiving touchdowns and 62 receptions in nine games.

Trent Mosley - WR/DB (Jr.)
He had 11 receptions for 207 yards and two touchdowns and scored a rushing touchdown in Santa Margarita’s 31-15 win over Centennial of Corona in a nonleague game. For the season Mosley (5-11, 170) has 21 catches for 328 yards. He was All-Orange County first team last season. Mosley, No. 2 on the Register’s ranking of the county’s top players for 2024, has offers from many colleges, including Notre Dame, Stanford, UCLA and USC.

Dash Fifita - LB (Jr.)
Fifita had 19 tackles and forced two fumbles for the Eagles in their 13-10 loss to Orange Lutheran in a Trinity League game. Fifita (5-8, 190), who plays linebacker, recovered a fumble and returned it 64 yards and had a sack. He leads Santa Margarita in solo tackles (32) and total tackles (70), for an average of nine tackles a game.

Josh Ireland - RB (Jr.)
Ireland had a huge night on the ground against Irvine as he amassed 237 yards. The Eagles won by the slim margin of three points, 24-21 in their second game of the season.

Billy Newman - RB (Sr.)
Newman rushed for 253 yards and two touchdowns in the Eagles’ 38-0 victory over Newport Harbor in the Southern Section Division V championship game.

Carson Palmer - QB (Sr.)
Carson Palmer, who replaced starting quarterback Greg Orlando, and played only the second and third quarters, proceeded to complete 11-of-14 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns. The Eagles prevailed 45-7 over Katella in the Southern Section Playoffs. Palmer also the new all-time passing yards leader for Santa Margarita.

Spencer McCroskey - RB / DB (Sr.)
McCroskey has his best game as an Eagle at Dana Hills as he rushed for a career-high 147 yards on only 16 carries, and recorded 13 tackles to be named the teams’ Offensive and Defensive “Skill Player of the Game.” He was also honored as Cox Communications Player of the Game. The win was the twenty-eighth consecutive for Santa Margarita.

Ashton White - RB (Jr.)
Versus Mater Dei, White rushed a career-high 33 times for 215 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also added five tackles to be named “Player of the Game.”

Ashton White - RB (Jr.)
Against Rialto in the Southern Section Playoffs, White rushed 33 times for 254 yards and scored a total of 26 points including four touchdowns. His point total tied Josh Ireland’s school record and his touchdowns tied the mark he had already shared. His 254-yard game was the tenth 100-yard game of his career and seventh of the season. He was named “Player of the Game.”

Dustin Slinkard - LB (Sr.)
Defensively, Dustin Slinkard earned “Player of the Game” honors with an outstanding performance in his last game as an Eagle as he collected 22 tackles against Esperanza in the Southern Section Playoffs. The tackle total is still one of the highest-ever in school history.

Carson Palmer - QB (Sr.)
In the Southern Section Playoffs, Palmer was 10-of-16 passing for 222 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles’ prevailed over Servite. It was his eighth game of the season with two-or-more touchdown passes.

Mike O’Gorman - WR (Sr.)
The senior receiver had five receptions for 127 yards and two touchdowns in the Southern Section playoff win over Tustin.