El Toro - Game Notes
This is the Eagles’ 106th Varsity game, and 55th home game. Santa Margarita’s all-time home record is 43-10-1 (.796). The Eagles are currently 79-25-1 (.752) as they enter Week 10 of their ninth season.
Santa Margarita is 9-0, and ranked No. 7 in the Western United States by USA Today, No. 5 in California (961 teams overall), No. 1 in both California Division II and CIF-SS Division V, and 2nd in Orange County (69 schools) behind Mater Dei.
With the win over Irvine in Week 8 the Eagles clinched their eighth playoff berth in nine seasons. The win over Woodbridge in Week 9 gave the Eagles their second consecutive Sea View League Championship.
The 9-0 start is the best start since the 1990 team started 12-0.
The Eagles have won a school record 20 games in a row. They have also won 22 of 23, and 31 of their last 36. Their last loss was to Servite in Week 3 of the 1996 season. The 20 wins is the best in Saddleback Valley history ahead of El Toro’s streak of 17 set in 1986-87.
The County record for consecutive wins is 32 set by Edison from 1979-81. The State and national record is 73 and counting by Concord De La Salle.
During the streak, the Eagles have outscored the opposition 815-165, an average margin of victory of 32.5 points.
The Eagles have also won 10 straight at home and 13 straight on the road dating back to 1995.
The Eagles are averaging 46.77 points per game. The County records for points per game and points were set last year by Tustin at 47.15 and 613 points (13 games) respectively. The Eagles are on pace to score 655 points over 14 games.
QUICK FACTS
This is the fourth game between the Eagles and the El Toro
Chargers. The Chargers hold a 2-1 series lead.
Santa Margarita is playing host to the El Toro for the second time at Saddleback College. In 1996, the Eagles clinched their first ever Sea View League Championship with a 42-21 win over the Chargers at Trabuco Hills High. Carson Palmer set school records with 375 yards of total offense (225 passing and 150 rushing) and four touchdown passes to help turn a 21-21 third quarter tie into an Eagle victory. In 1995, the Eagles held a 14-10 lead in the third quarter thanks to a Chris Collins Td run, but couldn’t hold on and lost 20-14 to the Chargers in front of a homecoming crowd of over 8,000. In 1994, the Chargers used a strong running game to offset Collins’ 203 yards passing to post a 33-9 triumph.
COACHES
Jim Hartigan is 79-25-1 (.752) in his ninth varsity season
as Head Coach. Overall Coach Hartigan has a 95-28-2 (.760) if
you include 10-0 and 6-3-1 lower level teams that he led in
1987 and 1988 respectively. He was honored as the 1996 CIF-SS
Division V Coach of the Year. The Chargers are led by 6th year
coach Mike Milner who is 31-31-2 (.492) overall at ET.
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
