Tustin - CIF Game Notes
This is Santa Margarita’s 110th varsity game, and 57th home game. Santa Margarita’s all-time home record is 45-10-1 (.804). The Eagles are currently 83-25-1 (.761) as they enter Week 14 of their ninth season.
The Eagles are 13-0, and ranked No. 5 in the Western United States by USA Today, No. 4 in California and No. 1 in California Division II by Student Sports/Cal Hi Sports, and 2nd in Orange County behind Mater Dei.
The 13-0 start is the best start in school history.
The Eagles have won a school record 24 games in a row. They have also won 26 of 27, and 35 of their last 40. Their last loss was to Servite in Week 3 of the 1996 season. The County record for consecutive wins is 32 set by Edison from 1979-81. The State and national record is 75 and counting by Concord De La Salle.
During the streak, the Eagles have outscored the opposition 990-211, an average score of 41.3 to 8.8, and margin of victory of 32.5 points.
The Eagles have also won 12 straight at home and 15 straight on the road dating back to 1995.
The Eagles have trailed only three times this season (7-0 and 21-17 at Fountain Valley and 7-0 to Katella) and have held the opponents to 49 points in the first half and 63 points through three quarters all season.
QUICK FACTS
This is the second consecutive year that the Game will be
played at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium. On December
14, 1996 8,000 fans witnessed the Eagles’ greatest triumph
- a 38-0 win over Sea View League rival Newport Harbor in the
1996 CIF Division V Championship game.
This happens to be the Eagles’ fourth game at this facility in the past 15 games. The Eagles are 3-0 here including the win over Newport Harbor as well as 55-14, and 59-18 wins over Servite this season.
The Eagles are 5-4 at home, 8-2 on the road and 13-6 (.684) overall in eight years of CIF playoff action.
This is the fifth game between the Eagles and the Tustin Tillers. The Eagles have eliminated the Tillers from the CIF playoffs for the past two years despite playing both games at Tustin’s Northrup Field.
Last Meeting: On January 12, 1997 Matt Rink, then Defensive Coordinator of the Eagles, presented a plaque at the Eagles’ Annual Awards Banquet which proudly hangs on the Eagles’ Wall of Fame. It reads, "Santa Margarita 31, Tustin 0. December 7, 1996. Going into the 1996 CIF-SS Division V semi-final game Tustin had already set the Orange County single season record of 613 points and was averaging 51 points per game, 303 yards rushing and had three players who had rushed for over 1,000 yards. However, on this night, the players listed below shut out Tustin and held then to 65 yards rushing. It was the greatest defensive performance in Eagle football history. Defensive Line - Stan Bennett, Andy Hopper, Austin Jayred, Ryan Mannix, Troy Brenes. Linebackers - Nick Cappelletti, Andrew Holstein, Chris Long, Damien Minna, Jason Rowell, Jesse Wyatt. Defensive Backs - Matt Brooks, Brett Crowder, John Minardi, Billy Newman." Billy Newman led the offense with 211 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
COACHES
Jim Hartigan is 83-25-1 (.761) in his ninth season as varsity
Head Coach. Overall Coach Hartigan has a 99-28-2 (.767) if you
include 10-0 and 6-3-1 lower level teams that he led in 1987
and 1988 respectively before the Eagles fielded varsity teams.
He was honored as the 1997 Daily Pilot Sea View League
Coach of the Year. Last year, Hartigan was named the 1996 CIF-SS
Division V Coach of the Year, Daily Pilot Sea View League
Coach of the Year and the National Football Foundation Orange
County Coach of the Year. A win over Tustin would give Jim Hartigan
the 100th win of his career at Santa Margarita including those
lower level years. The Tillers are led by 3rd year coach Myron
Miller who is 28-8-1 (.757) overall at Tustin.
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
