Loyola - Game Notes
| Varsity Game No. and Record: |
166 | 121-41-3 (.742) |
| Road Game No. and Record: |
81 | 56-24 (.700) |
| Record on road vs. Serra League teams: | 4-2 | (.667) |
| Week 8 Record: | 9-3-1 | (.769) |
| Record vs. Loyola: | 1-0 | (2002 is 2nd Mtg) |
| Record vs. LA County Schools: | 25-6 | (.806) |
| Record vs. Serra League teams (since ’91): |
14-5-1 | (.725) |
| Record vs. Catholic Schools: | 20-8-1 | (.707) |
| Record on Saturday: | 8-3 | (.727) |
| Record as a Division I team: | 27-12-2 | (.683) |
The Eagles and Cubs enter Week 3 of Serra League play with identical 5-2 overall records and 0-2 league marks. It is the first time the Eagles have started league play winless. They had been 11-0 in Week 1 of league play.
This is the second game between Santa Margarita and the Loyola Cubs with this being their first as Serra League foes. In 2001, the Eagles forced three turnovers and blocked a punt, and Marshall Tharpe threw two touchdown passes as the Eagles registered an impressive 21-14 win over the previously unbeaten and nationally ranked Loyola Cubs at Saddleback College. (A full recap of the 2001 game plus is included herein.)
Loyola is 5-2 and ranked 8th in CIF-SS Division I and 20th in Southern California per the LA Times. They finished the 2001 season 7-3-1 and were 12-2 and reached the CIF-SS Division I Championship Game in 2000. The Cubs are one of the most storied programs in California history winning 36 league titles, four CIF Championships and one national title while going 548-225-36 since 1924. Their 548 documented wins are fifth best in California history; however, it is believed that they have actually won at least 21 more games due to incomplete records between 1897 and 1923. They are led by legendary coach Steve Grady who is 238-64-5 (.783) in 27 seasons at Loyola including an 0-1 mark against the Eagles.
The Eagles are ranked 6th in Orange County, 9th in CIF-SS Division I,
and 19th in Southern California per the L.A. Times. They have been ranked
in the Orange County Top 10 for 78 of the last 86 polls, including 23
in a row, and in the CIF Division I Top 10 for 34 of the 38 weekly polls
since joining Division I in 1999.
Eagle - Cub History (SM leads 1-0)
2001 SM 21, Loyola 14 @ Saddleback College
Head Coach Jim Hartigan - AFCA
Jim Hartigan, 42, is 121-41-3 (.742) in his 14th season as the Eagles'
varsity Head Coach. Overall, Coach Hartigan has a 137-44-4 (.751) 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
