Bishop Amat - Game Notes
| Varsity Game No. and Record: |
168 | 122-42-3 (.740) |
| Home Game No. and Record: |
87 | 66-17-3 (.784) |
| Record at Saddleback College: | 58-14-2 | (.797) |
| Week 10 Record: | 10-2-1 | (.808) |
| Record vs. Bishop Amat: | 2-0 | (2002 is 3rd Mtg) |
| Record vs. LA County Schools: | 25-7 | (.781) |
| Record vs. Serra League teams (since ’91): |
15-6-1 | (.705) |
| Record vs. Catholic Schools: | 21-9-1 | (.694) |
| Record on Friday: | 101-34-3 | (.743) |
| Record as a Division I team: | 28-13-2 | (.674) |
| Record vs. Division I team: | 36-16-1 | (.689) |
The Eagles are 6-3 overall and 1-3 in league play as they enter Week 10 of their 14th varsity season. The Eagles posted a resounding 19-0 win over arch-rival Mater Dei last week, and are very much alive for a playoff berth.
Eagle - Lancer History (SM Leads 2-0)
1999 SM 35, BA 26 @ Saddleback College
2000 SM 21, BA 19 @ Kiefer Stadium (B.A.H.S.)
This is the third meeting between the Bishop Amat Lancers and the Santa Margarita Eagles and the first in Serra League play. In 2000, The Eagles used a then career-high 164 yards rushing from sophomore Ashton White to jump out to a 21-6 lead, but needed a game saving stop on a two-point conversion play with 2:28 remaining to defeat the Lancers 21-19 before a crowd of 3,300 at Kiefer Stadium. The 1999 contest marked the highest profile game that Santa Margarita had played in up until that time with the Eagles prevailing 35-26. Entering the game Bishop Amat was 5-0 and ranked 1st in CIF-SS Division I, 2nd in the State, 7th in the West by USA Today and 17th in the Nation per Fox Sports West's "Fab 50"; however, the Lancers could not stop the Eagles' balanced attack on this night as the Eagles inproved to 5-1. Led by Jimmy Herzog's 118 yards rushing and three touchdowns, Chris Rix's nine of 14 passing effort and Tyler Thompson's fumble return for a score the hosts took a 32-12 fourth quarter lead and held on as Donnie McCleskey led a furious Lancer comeback.
The Lancers are 4-5 on the season, including a 1-3 league mark after an impressive 21-7 win over Loyola. They are unranked in Division I. Last year, they finished 9-2 and advanced to the Division I quarterfinals before losing to Edison 47-14. They are led by fourth-year coach Mike DiFiori who has an overall mark of 21-19 (.525).
The Eagles are ranked 4th in Orange County, 8th in CIF-SS Division I
and 20th in Southern California per the LA Times. They have been ranked
in the Orange County Top 10 for 80 of the last 88 polls, including 25
in a row, and in the CIF Division I Top 10 for 36 of the 40 weekly polls
since joining Division I in 1999.
Head Coach Jim Hartigan - AFCA
Jim Hartigan, 42, is 122-42-3 (.740) in his 14th season as the Eagles'
varsity Head Coach. Overall, Coach Hartigan has a 138-45-4 (.749) record
in 16 seasons 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 has won four League Championships and two CIF Titles in the past six
years and has seen his team ranked as high as 12th in the nation (USA
Today). Jim 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 12 of their 13 seasons,
including seven in a row, and has never posted a losing season. He has
coached ten High School All-Americans, 72 players who have gone on to
play in the collegiate ranks and five who have gone on to the NFL. His
28-game winning streak from 1996-98 is the second best in Orange County
history.
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
