Eagles 31 - Tustin 0
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| Photo: Michael Kitada |
TUSTIN, CA., December 7, 1996 – Going into the Division V semi-final, the Tustin Tillers had set the Orange county scoring record and were coming off a 60 point performance. The Eagles came in with some pretty impressive games defensively during the season, but this game meant everything. When it was all over, SM had shut out theTillers while racing to a 31-0 victory to put them in the CIF Final. The most any Tustin back rushed for was 38 yards, while billy Newman returned to gain 211 yards and 4 touchdowns. Newman’s 3rd score in the 2nd quarter gave SM a 21-0 lead going in at half and Tustin never threatened after that.
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
| Tustin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SM – Newman 9 run (Sparks kick)
SM – Newman 62 run (Sparks kick)
SM – Newman 47 run (Sparks kick)
SM – Newman 2 run (Sparks kick)
SM – FG Sparks 34
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Newman 21-208, Zinn 4-28, Palmer 3-8; Tus - Lambert 7-38, Carnet 7-31, Foster 14-31, DeGrammont 2-7, Scott 5.(-1)
Passing: SM - Palmer 6-13-116-0, Thompson 2-4-17-0: Tus - Scott 7-19-69-0
Receiving: SM - Minardi 2-72, O'Connor 3-16, Crowder 1-14, Moore 1-14, Minna 1-10; Tus - Foster 2-34, Williams 2-19, DeGrammont 3-12
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
Eagles blank strong Tustin in a shocker.
The Tillers, averaging 51 points a game, come up empty in the semifinals against Santa Margarita, 31-0.
TUSTIN – Tustin already had set the Orange County season scoring record. The Tillers were averaging an amazing 51 points a game and scored 60 last week.
But Santa Margarita figured out a way to not only slow the Tillers, but to completely stop them.
"Santa Margarita threw an unlikely shutout, beating Tustin, 310, in a CIF Southern Section Division V semifinal playoff football game Saturday night in front of 5.000 at Tustin High.
The Eagles' Billy Newman rushed for 208 yards and four touchdowns.
The Eagles (12-1) will play Sea View League rival Newport Harbor in the Division V championship game Saturday at a site to be determined. Santa Margarita coach Jim Hartigan speculated that the rematch — Santa Margarita won, 36-22, seven weeks ago - would be played at Orange Coast College.
It is the first championship game appearance for Santa Margarita, which began playing varsity football in 1989.
Tustin finished 11-2.
The Tillers, whose only other loss was to Servite (also the only team to beat Santa Margarita), had three running backs with more than 1,000 yards going into Saturday's game. But Deshaun Foster, who had 1,712 yards, was held to 31 on 14 carries; Brandon Lambert, who had 1,200, had 38 on seven carries; and Greg Carnal, who had 1,187, ran for 31 on seven attempts.
"To shut them out," Hartigan said, "was awesome for us."
He said his coaching staff's film-studying sessions last week verified what he already figured: Tustin's speed would be tough to contain. The Eagles would simply try to clog any lanes the Tillers' offensive line tried to create.
“We just let our secondary flow to where the ball was flowing to," Hartigan said.
Santa Margarita linebacker Damien Minna said he just watched where Tustin's guards went. "We didn't want to let them get any room to run inside,” he said.
Newman, who didn't play in last week's 38-0 quarterfinal victory over Valencia because of a pulled hamstring, found plenty of room. He averaged 9.9 yards a carry Saturday, and had scoring runs of 9, 62, 47, and 2 yards.
"We knew we could score on them,” Santa Margarita offensive coordinator Tim O'Hara said. “But defense won this game."
By Steve Fryer
Sunday, December 8, 1996
The Orange County Register - Sports 16
