SERVITE 35 - EAGLES 20
FULLERTON, CA., October 24, 2002 – The Servite Friars pounded out 346 yards rushing led by Joel Rubalcaba's 170 yards in handing the Eagles a 35-20 setback before 5,000 at Cal State Fullerton. The loss was the Eagles second consecutive defeat of the season and dropped their record to 5-2. Servite on the other hand improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1985. The Friars wasted little time taking control of the game marching 80 yards on nine plays to take a 7-0 lead on Dillon Bedard's first of three touchdown runs. On the ensuing kickoff Case Colaw threw a lateral to Bobby Whithorne who raced untouched for what should have been the tying score only to have it brought back due to a clip. Servite's second possession was stopped after one play as nose guard Nick Corrado stepped in front of a screen pass for an inteception at the Friar 38. A 34-yard pass from Colaw to Jason Graban gave the visitors a first and goal at the four; however, the Eagles couldn't punch it in and a 20-yard field goal by Will Johnson was wide left.
Bedard capped Servite's first drive of the second quarter by scoring from 16 yards out, but the Eagles didn't give in as Whithorne returned the kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown to narrow the lead to 14-7. Bedard's third touchdown from 10 yards out with 1:39 left in the half increased Servite's lead to 21-7. Colaw, with all three timeouts at his disposal, took the Eagles 65 yards on nine plays and found Graban with a two-yard scoring pass with only 0:05 remaining in the half to bring it to 21-14.
The second half saw the Eagles start off strong as they drove 72-yards to the Friar 13 but didn't capitalize as Johnson missed a 30-yard field goal at the 9:28 mark. After force a punt on Servite's first drives Colaw threw the first of four interceptions at the 4:59 mark after a 58-yard drive to the Friar 10. After another Friar punt Colaw had another pass intercepted which set up Rubalcaba's ten-yard touchdown with 9:38 left in the game. Another drive into Friar territory ended on an interception as well, and a fumble recovery by Joe Ramsey at the Friar 47 set up the Eagles in great field position, but this drive also ended with an interception. Rubalcaba's 46-yard touchdown run with 3:36 effectively ended the game, but Colaw, who tied the school record for completions with 23 in a career-high 41 attempts for 273 yards, engineered a 71-yard drive that brought them within 15 on the strength of a 58-yard scoring pass to Whithorne (13 catches for 185 yards).
The Eagles were severely hurt by the absences of RB Ashton White and TE/MLB Dustin Slinkard. Without the punishing ball-control running by White they managed to rush for a season low 36 yards on only ten attempts. Jack Meehan filled in admirably for Slinkard at middle linebacker and tied the school record for tackles in a game with 23 but did not get much help as the Friars picked up a whopping 24 first downs - mostly on the ground to control the ball for 29:44 compared to the Eagles 18:16.
| Servite | 7 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 35 |
| Santa Margarita | 0 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 20 |
SER – Bedard 6 run (Lawrence kick)
SER – Bedard 16 run (Lawrence kick)
SM – Whithorne 92 kickoff return (W. Johnson kick)
SER – Bedard 10 run (Lawrence kick)
SM – Graben 2 pass from Colaw (W. Johnson kick)
SER – Rubalcaba 10 run (Lawrence kick)
SER – Rubalcaba 46 run (Lawrence kick)
SM – Whithorne 58 pass from Colaw (kick failed)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Colaw 5-15, McWhorter 5-12; Ser - Rubalcaba 27-173, Martin 14-87
Passing: SM - Colaw 21-38-4-277; Ser - Coffelt 7-10-1-74
Receiving: SM - Whithorne 12-176, Neinhuis 5-32; Ser - Kause 3-54, Rubalcaba 2-27
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
Servite rushes past Santa Margarita
The Friars improve to 7-0 at the expense of the shorthanded Eagles, 35-20
FULLERTON – Servite defeated Santa Margarita, 35-20, Thursday night at Cal State Fullerton in a Serra League game that the winning coach called "a tarnished victory."
Coach Larry Toner was not talking about the Friars' 10 penalties. He was referring to the absence of Eagles running back Ashton White.
"You want to play them at their best," Toner said. "You want the competition to be as good as it can be."
White, who rushed for 805 yards in the Eagles' first six games, was out with what Santa Margarita coach Jim Hartigan called a combination of assorted injuries and illness. White was unable to practice regularly during the week and did not make the trip to Thursday night's game.
One of the Eagles' top defenders, linebacker Dustin Slinkhard, also did not play because of a broken hand.
Perhaps Slinkard would not have made much difference in Santa Margarita's efforts to stop Servite's running game, which helped the Friars improve to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in league. This is the first time the Friars have won two league games since the Serra League formed in 1998.
Servite plays Mater Dei next on Nov. 2 at Cal State Fullerton. Santa Margarita (5-2), defending league champion, is 0-2 in league. The Ea gles lost to St. John Bosco of Bellflower last week.
Servite rushed for 355 yards, led by Joel Rubalcaba's 173 yards, Conor Martin's 87 and Chris Blanco's 70.
Rubalcaba had touchdown runs of 10 and 46 yards, both in the fourth quarter, to give him 13 touchdowns for the season. Dillon Bedard had touchdown runs of 6, 16 and 10 yards in the first half.
Bedard, who also plays linebacker, had two of the Friars' four interceptions.
Servite scored on its opening drive on Bedard's 6-yard touchdown run. Santa Margarita appeared to tie the score on the ensuing kickoff, but returner Bobby Whithorne's trip to the end zone was nullified by a penalty -- the second touchdown erased by a penalty in two weeks for the Eagles. Santa Margarita also missed two field goals for the second game in a row.
Bedard's 16-yard touchdown run in the second quarter made it 14-0. Whithorne again returned the ensuing kickoff to the Servite end zone, but this one counted to trim Servite's lead to 14-7.
Bedard's 10-yard touchdown run pushed the Friars' lead to 21-7 with 1:39 left in the first half. With five seconds to go, Santa Margarita scored on a 2-yard pass from Case Colaw to Jason Graban to make it 21-14.
After a scoreless third quarter, Rubalcaba scored his two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
By Steve Fryer
Saturday, October 25, 2002
The Orange County Register
