Trabuco Hills - Game Notes
The win over Fountain Vallley improved the Eagles to 4-0 on the season and marked their best start since starting 1997 4-0. They are seeking to begin their season 5-0 for the fourth time. It has been done three previous times - 1990, 1992 and 1997.
This is the sixth game between Santa Margarita and the Trabuco Hills and their third meeting at Trabuco Hills High. The Eagles lead the series 3-2. In 1997, the Eagles raced out to a 31-0 lead with 8:30 left in the second quarter lead and coasted to a 34-14 win. Back-up QB Greg Orlando, filling in for injured Carson Palmer, rushed for one Td and passed for another. In 1996, Senior RB Billy Newman stole the show in record breaking fashion as he rushed for a school record 364 yards and three Tds, and set two other records for carries (32) and all-purpose yards (429) in a 38-24 Eagle win. In 1995, the Eagles used 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns by Billy Newman to post a 20-0 win at Saddleback College. Brian Berg contributed six tackles, a forced fumble and a sack in the second half to preserve the shutout. In 1994, The Mustangs returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a score and took advantage of sloppy Eagle play to build a 17-0 lead before Matt Nickel's two Tds closed the gap to 17-12, but it was too little too late as the Mustangs held on. In 1989, Trabuco Hills was the first team the Eagles faced in Varsity competition. Playing with a team of underclassmen, the Eagles were no match for the experienced Mustangs who posted a 50-14 win.
In 2001, the Mustangs finished 5-6 overall and tied for second in the tough South Coast League. They advanced to the first round of the Division II playoffs where they lost 14-7 to La Verne Damien. They are led by 8th year Head Coach Bill Crow who is 37-40-1 (.481) at Trabuco Hills including a 0-3 mark vs. Santa Margarita.
The Eagles are ranked 3rd in Orange County, 5th in the West by USA Today, 5th in CIF-SS Division I, 7th in Southern California per the L.A. Times, 7th in California per CalHi Sports, and 9th in the West per the National Prep Poll. They have been ranked in the Orange County Top 10 for 75 of the last 83 polls including 20 in a row, and in the Division I Top 10 by the CIF office in 31 of the 35 weekly polls since joining Division I in 1999.
Head Coach Jim Hartigan - AFCA
Jim Hartigan, 42, is 120-39-3 (.750) in his 14th season as the Eagles'
varsity Head Coach. Overall, Coach Hartigan has a 136-42-4 (.758) 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 eight 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
