Eagles 55 - Servite 14
FULLERTON, CA., September 26, 1997 – Bryant Wolfsberger rushed for 171 of Santa Margarita's school record 415 rushing yards as the Eagles won their 14th consecutive game with a 55-14 win over Servite at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Stadium. The Eagles picked up where they left off the last time they played there, a 38-0 win over Newport Harbor in the 1996 CIF Division V Championship Game, by scoring on their first two offensive plays, five of their first 11 and seven of their first 18 to build a 48-7 halftime lead.
Wolfsberger scored on the first play of the game on an 80-yard run. With 9:51 left in the first quarter, QB Carson Palmer hit Greg Orlando for a 60-yard Td and a quick 14-0 lead. Palmer connected with John Minardi for a 40-yard Td, and Wolfsberger added 27 and 23-yard Tds to make it 42-0 with 8:29 left in the second quarter.
With Palmer and Wolfsberger on the sidelines, Matt Lopez ran 51 yards for a Td to close the first half scoring. Palmer completed five of six passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns and added a 12-yard run. Juniors Orlando (89 yards rushing, 60 receiving, eight passing), Lopez (81, Td), Lee Smith (39) Spencer McCroskey (29) and Josh Wills (6, Td) also helped lead the charge. The Eagles finished with 551 yards in offense on only 38 plays (14.5 yards per play), and tied school records with their 55 points and eight Tds.
On defense, Nick Cappelletti (team leader with 11 tackles and a sack), Matt Brooks (first interception) and Minardi (Defensive Player of the Game) helped limit the Friars to 89 yards rushing and 172 total yards.
| Santa Margarita | 35 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 55 |
| Servite | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
SM – Wolfsberger 80 run (Sparks kick)
SM – Orlando 60 pass from Palmer (Sparks kick)
SM – Minardi 40 pass from Palmer (Sparks kick)
SM – Wolfsberger 23 run (Sparks kick)
SM – Wolfsberger 19 run (Sparks kick)
SM – Wolfsberger 27 run (Sparks kick)
SER – Askew 2 run (Lambert kick)
SM – Lopez 51 run (kick fail)
SM – Wills 5 run (Sparks kick)
SER – Arthur 17 pass from Petropolus (Lambert kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Wolfsberger 7-171, Orlando 6-88; Ser - Gribben 21-90, Gogan 4-22
Passing: SM - Palmer 5-6-0-128; Ser - Garko 4-7-0-26, Petropolous 7-16-1-64
Receiving: SM - Orlando 1-60, Minardi 1-40; Ser - DeLellis 4-37, Askew 3-31
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
Eagles soar over Servite
FULLERTON – It was supposed to be a grudge match between two of Orange County's top football programs, but Santa Margarita's offense turned Friday night's non league football game against Servite into a blowout.
The Eagles (3-0), ranked second in the county, scored at will against an outmanned Servite defense. They reached the end zone on their first two plays from scrimmage, scoring on five of their first 11 plays and on all seven of their first-half possessions en route to a 55-14 victory at Cal State Fullerton.
Santa Margarita was looking for a measure of revenge after last year's 38-27 loss to Servite, it's only setback during a 13-1 season that led to the school's first CIF Southern Section title.
"We thought this was going to be a grudge match,' Santa Margarita quarterback Carson Palmer said. "I'm still surprised, I don't know what happened."
What happened was a bevy of well executed plays that buried a usually stingy Servite defense and handed the eighth-ranked Friars (1-2) one of their worst losses in the past 10 years.
Palmer called an audible on the first play from scrimmage, giving the ball to tailback Bryant Wolfsberger on a counter play that went 80 yards for a touchdown 12 seconds into the game.
Servite punted on its next series and Palmer started at his 40. On the first play he teamed with Greg Orlando on a 60-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead with only 2:09 gone in the game.
The rout was on. Wolfsberger, one of the few Santa Margarita players not looking for revenge - he transferred from Capistrano Valley Christian this summer-did the most damage. He scored four touchdowns in the first half adding scoring runs of 23, 19 and 27 yards before leaving the game with 171 yards in seven first-half plays.
Palmer completed 5 of 6 passes for 128 yards before leaving late in the second quarter.
Santa Margarita ran up 394 yards in total offense in the first half alone and set a school record with 415 yards rushing.
"We simply came out and made some good plays. We made some good calls and executed well," Santa Margarita coach Jim Hartigan said.
By David Osterman
Saturday, September 27, 1997
The Orange County Register - Sports 11
