EAGLES 38 - REDLANDS 14
MISSION VIEJO, CA., September 20, 2002 – Santa Margarita, behind a punishing ground game and an active defense, soundly defeated the fourth-ranked Redlands Terriers 38-14 before 5,500 at Saddleback College. The Eagles, entering the game ranked seventh in Division I, used 180 yards rushing on 29 carries by tailback Ashton White and 108 on 14 totes from fullback Chase McWhorter to control the clock for over 33 minutes and rack up 460 total yards of offense (including 365 on the ground). The win improved the Eagles record to 2-0 for the first time since 1998 heading into their intersectional match-up with Los Angeles Dorsey.
Redlands (1-1), which was 11-1 in 2001, had a reputation for it's own physical run-oriented style using their wing-T attack, but they had no answers on either offense or defense once they fell behind. Eagles never punted and churned out their most yardage and first downs since the Servite game in 2000 behind the blocking of tackle Nick Corrado (nine decleaters) and guard John Walsh (four). Corrado's nine decleaters were one short of the school record and he earned Offensive and Defensive Lineman of the Game honors for his efforts in the trenches.
The Eagles needed only six plays and 2:26 to take a lead they never relinquished. On their first offensive series senior QB Case Colaw converted a flea-flicker into a 40-yard completion to junior wideout Ryan Nienhuis. After a White run set up first-and-goal on the nine McWhorter scored from there on the next play to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 9:34 left in the first quarter. Redlands took advantage of a 16-yard run by Zach James and a 15-yard facemask penalty to drive to the Eagle 25 before Bubba Jesperson recovered a fumble by Terrier QB Brandon D'Amico that ended the threat. The turnover set up a 14-play, 73-yard drive that ate up 6:24 and was capped by a three-yard Td run by White. (Ashton ran nine times on that drive for 59 yards, and his touchdown marked the 13th consecutive game were he has scored at least one.) The Terriers next drive was their best of the night as they capitalized on a 42-yard reception by Brian Walsh to help set up a two-yard scoring run by James at the 10:27 mark of the second quarter to close the gap to 14-7. After White returned the kickoff 33 yards to the Eagle 42 the home team went on an 11-play drive that appeared to end with a 11-yard Td reception by Nienhuis; however, a holding penalty negated the score and the Eagles had to settle for a 35-yard field goal by Jason Graban with 4:38 left in the half to increase the lead to 17-7. A 51-yard field goal attempt by Graban at the end of the half fell short.
The second half was more of the same. Redlands was forced to punt after a three-and-out on their first series and the Eagles needed only three plays to increase their lead to 24-7 as a 38-yard run by McWhorter set up a four-yard Td run by White at the 9:44 mark. Three minutes later Ashton rushed 11 consecutive times for 72 yards before Colaw hit sophomore TE Frank Guzman from five yards out for his first career touchdown pass to make it 31-7. (Colaw, who managed only 12 yards of offense vs. El Modena, connected on eight of nine passes for 95 yards and added 26 yards rushing to earn co-Offensive Player of the Game honors.) Dustin Slinkard's fumble recovery set up McWhorter's second tuchdown, this one from four-yards out, with 8:35 remaining to push the score to 38-7. The Terriers took advantage of separate facemask and personal foul penalties to move deep into Eagle territory where they fed the ball to James (124 yards) who scored a meaningless Td with 2:50 remaining to close out the scoring.
Despite James' efforts the defense played the best it has in a long time. They forced four turnovers, surrendered only 12 first downs and shut down the Terrier's potent rushing attack for the better part of three quarters. Junior CB Mark Restelli collected a career-high eight tackles and Nienhuis and had seven to go along with three receptions on offense. Standout WR Bobby Whithorne, despite catching only two passes on the day, played well at free safety collecting seven tackles and picking off his first pass.
| Santa Margarita | 14 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
| Redlands | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
SM – McWhorter 9 run (Graban kick)
SM – White 3 run (Graban kick)
RED – James 2 run (Ito kick)
SM – Graban 35 FG
SM – White 4 run (Graban kick)
SM – Guzman 4 pass from Colaw (Graban kick)
SM – McWhorter 5 run (Graban kick)
RED – James 1 run (Ito kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: RED - James 19-124, McBroom 2-29, Jurado 5-18, D'Amico 2-(minus 3); SM - White 29-180, McWhorter 14-110, Colaw 7-24, Ramsey 6-19, Mower 4-20
Passing: RED - D'Amico 6-13-1-79; SM - Colaw 7-8-0-91
Receiving: RED - Walsh 4-70, James 1-8, Franco 1-1; SM - Neinhuis 2-54, Whithorne 2-18, McWhorter 1-8, Slinkard 1-6, Guzman 1-5
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
Redlands left dazed
Seventh-ranked Santa Margarita rushes for 353 yards, overpowers the No. 7 Terriers, 38-14
MISSION VIEJO – Redlands High School football coach Jim Walker didn't mince words after his team was blown out by Santa Margarita on Friday night.
"We'll have to go to the proctologist and get checked,' Walker said after the Terriers lost to the Eagles 38-14 in front of 3,200 spectators at Saddleback College. "We just got our butts kicked, plain and simple.'
The anticipated matchup between two of the top teams in CIF-SS Division I Redlands was ranked No.
4 coming into the game, while Santa Margarita was No.
7 turned into a mismatch.
Santa Margarita, behind a powerful running game led by seniors Ashton White and Chase McWhorter, gained 444 total yards, including 353 rushing on 60 attempts.
White, the son of former USC tailback and Heisman Trophy winner Charles White, ran for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries, despite missing much of the first half after tweaking his right knee. McWhorter, the Eagles' fullback, ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.
Redlands (1-1) could only counter with senior running back Zach James, who ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. And the Terriers had four turnovers, including two first-half fumbles inside the Santa Margarita 30-yard line that killed potential scoring drives.
"We were our own worst enemy,' Walker said. "We had our opportunities, we just kept screwing it up.'
Senior running back Mark Jurado, who had a big game last week against Yucaipa, had only 18 yards on five carries on Friday, as Santa Margarita took away the Terriers' inside rushing attack. James had success running outside, but White and McWhorter more than matched him on the ground.
The Eagles scored on their first three possessions and took a 17-7 lead at halftime. Santa Margarita took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards to take a 7-0 lead, the big play being a flea-flicker on second-and-inches at the Eagles 44.
White took a handoff from quarterback Case Colaw, then turned at the line of scrimmage and lateraled back to Colaw, who completed a 40-yard pass to Ryan Neinhuis to the Redlands 16. Two plays later, McWhorter ran nine yards for the touchdown.
Redlands drove from its own 22 to the Santa Margarita 25 on its first possession, but on first down, a bad exchange between quarterback Brandon D'Amico and James on a handoff led to a fumble, and Brandt Jespersen recovered for the Eagles at the Santa Margarita 27.
Santa Margarita then went on a 14-play drive to make it 14-0, with White carrying for 66 yards on the drive and capping it with a 3-yard run for the touchdown.
The Terriers cut the lead to 14-7 with a nine-play, 72-yard drive, mostly on the ground. But the key play was a 42-yard pass from D'Amico to Brian Walsh on third-and-inches at the Santa Margarita 48, putting the ball at the Eagles 6. Three plays later, James scored on a 2-yard run on third-and-goal to pull Redlands within a touchdown.
But after Jason Graban kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 17-7, James lost a fumble at the Santa Margarita 30 late in the second quarter. And in the final two quarters, the Eagles' running game, led by White, erased any chance of a comeback.
White's 4-yard touchdown run capped a three-play, 48-yard drive on Santa Margarita's first possession of the third quarter and gave the Eagles a 24-7 lead.
After a long Redlands drive stalled at the Santa Margarita 27, the Eagles ran the ball down Redlands' throat on a 13-play touchdown drive. White ran the first 12 plays for 73 yards, and then Colaw hit tight end Frank Guzman with a 5-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the third quarter to give the Eagles a 31-7 lead.
By Chris Wiley
Saturday, September 21, 2002
The San Bernardino Sun
