Rancho Bernardo 37 - Eagles 23
Rancho Bernardo stymies Ireland, Santa Margarita
POWAY, CA., September 13, 1991 – Rancho Bernardo shut down Santa Margarita's Josh Ireland and took advantage of the Eagles' young defense Friday night in a 37-23 Broncos victory before a crowd estimated at 1,000 at Poway High.
Ireland, who rushed for 1,456 yards and 16 touchdowns last season, was limited to 20 yards on 10 carries. Anton Villanueva took advantage of the defense keying on Ireland to rush for 157 yards on six carries, including three touchdowns.
"Defensively, they really keyed on Josh,” Santa Margarita coach Jim Hartigan said. “Our offense at times looked good, but we missed a lot of opportunities. This is a brand new offense for us."
The Eagles have switched to a split-back veer to replace the l back offense of last season.
"I think once we get our offense down, it will be hard for teams to key on Josh because Anton and (Sean) O'Brien are also explosive runners."
The Eagles defense was ragged.
“We missed a lot of tackles," Hartigan said. “Our defense is very young."
Rancho Bernardo's Pete Keleher rushed for 202 yards on 29 carries inside while Steve Webber ran the counter play outside for 78 yards on 10 carries.
On the defense:
O'Brien and Manuel Rubiralta each had six solo tackles while Ireland was in on 12 assists ... Ryan Zalta put pressure on QB Josh Stang twice in the first half, forcing a fumble that Jim Herlehy recovered and forcing a hurried pass the second time.
Noteworthy:
Ireland returned five kickoffs for 168 yards including 52 and 45-yarders.
| Rancho Bernardo | 10 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 37 |
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 23 |
SM – Villanueva 31 run (O'Brien kick)
RB – FG Kaufman 29
RB – Moffat 9 pass from Stang (Kaufman kick)
RB – Keleher 15 run (Kaufman kick)
RB – Keleher 1 run (Kaufman kick)
SM – Villanueva 32 run (Ireland run)
RB – Webber 17 run (Kaufman kick)
SM – Villanueva 75 run (Ireland run)
RB – Stang 1 cun (kick failed)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Villanueva 6-157, Ireland 10-20; RB - Kelcher 29-202, Webber 10-78
Passing: SM - O'Brien 3-5-1-22; RB - Stang 6-8-0-75
Receiving: SM - Ireland 1-10, Wilson 1-9; RB - Webber 3-36, Moffat 2-21
By John Rezell
Saturday, September 14, 1991
The Orange County Register - D9
