Servite - Game Notes
This is the sixth meeting between Santa Margarita and the Servite Friars, and the second between the two schools as league rivals. Last year, Adam Ernst's 5-yard run with 10 seconds left lifted the Friars to an emotional 31-27 win over the Eagles before 6,000 at Saddleback College. In the 1997 CIF Playoffs, the Eagles beat Servite 59-18 at Cal State Fullerton. The Eagles needed only three plays to score on the strength of a 32-yard Td strike from Carson Palmer to Greg Orlando. Orlando, who blocked two PATs, finished with four receptions for 107 yards and 2 Tds. Garrett Thompson logged 57- and 63-yard kickoff returns, Palmer completed 10 of 16 passes for 222 yards and three TDs, and LB Nick Cappelletti added a career-high 18 tackles. In Week 3 of 1997, Bryant Wolfsberger rushed for 171 of the school's then school record 415 yards rushing as the Eagles posted a convincing 55-14 win at CSF. The Eagles scored on their first two offensive plays, five of their first 11 and seven of their first 18 plays to build a 48-7 halftime lead. The Eagles finished with 551 yards on only 38 plays (14.5 yards per play) and tied then school records with 55 points and eight Tds. Nick Cappelletti led the team with 11 tackles and a sack. In 1996, the Eagles fell to the Friars 38-27 before a standing room only crowd of 8,000 at Saddleback College. At OCC in 1991, Tim Sulick and Joe Winkleman stopped Friar RB Michael Lund on a 2-Point play to with 2:58 left to preserve an emotional upset victory.
The Eagles'.747 winning percentage is the best in Orange County.
The Eagles are ranked 7th in Division I and have been ranked in the Division I Top 10 for 17 of the past 20 polls. They are ranked 6th in Orange County, and have been in the OC Top 10 for 58 of the past 66 polls.
Head Coaches
Eagle Head Coach Jim Hartigan is 107-36-1 (.747) in his
12th season as varsity Head Coach. Overall Coach Hartigan
has a 123-39-2 (.756) 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
both the 1996 and 1997 Daily Pilot Sea View League Coach
of the Year, CIF-SS Division V Coach of the Year and the
National Football Foundation Orange County Coach of the
Year. Coach Hartigan has directed his squads into the playoffs
in ten of their 11 seasons and has never posted a losing
season. Jim has coached in three CIF Championship Games,
winning two, and several exciting games including two recognized
as State Games of the Week during the 1998 season, a National
Game of the Year (the 1997 CIF Championship Game) and the
1997 Orange County All-Star Game. The Friars are led by
12th-year coach Larry Toner who is 81-55-1 (.595) overall.
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
