Loyola 21 - Eagles 7
MISSION VIEJO, CA., November 7, 2003 – Running back Trason Bragg rushed for 117 yards and one touchdown and quarterback Scott Deke passed for 124 yards and rushed for two scores himself as the Loyola Cubs wore down the Santa Margarita Eagles and pulled out a 21-7 victory before a crowd of 4,500 at Saddleback College. With the win the Cubs improved to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in league play to move into first place in the highly competitive Serra League, while Santa Margarita fell to 7-2, 2-2.
The first quarter was full of exciting plays as Mark Johnson intercepted a Deke pass deep in Eagle territory to thwart a promising Cub drive just three minutes into the game. After forcing a punt the Cubs needed only 1:44 to take the lead as Deke ran untouched around left end for an eight-yard score to make it 7-0 at the 4:59 mark of the first quarter. The Eagles quickly responded and three plays later Chris Ramsey outran the Cub defenders on his way to a season-long 67-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:52 remaining. A sack by Mike Lopez on third and seven stopped the Cubs next drive and a 38-yard run by quarterback Michael Angelo set up the hosts deep in Loyola territory. However, the Eagles couldn’t capitalize as they failed to produce any more first downs and Mike Fowle missed wide on a 37-yard field goal attempt at the 0:25 mark.
From that point on the Cubs dominated the time of possession and limited the Eagles to five first downs and a mere 87 total yards over the next three quarters. Bragg’s two-yard touchdown with 3:25 left in the half made it 14-7 going into intermission. On their first possession of the second half the Cubs went on a seven-play 60-yard drive highlighted by a 37 yard run by Braggs setting up Deke’s second touchdown – this one from a yard out - to make it 21-7 with 6:58 to go in the quarter. The Eagles were forced to punt on their first three possessions of the second half and a critical 14-play drive by Loyola did not produce any points but consumed 7:13 of time leaving the Eagle offense with no timeouts and not enough time to score any points.
Overall the Cubs had advantages in time of possession (28:20 to 19:40), yards gained (361-216) and first downs (17 to 7). Ramsey led the Eagles with 75 yards rushing while Angelo picked up 70 of his own to go along with 68 yards passing on 11 completions. Defensively, history was made as senior linebacker Jack Meehan collected 12 tackles giving him 332 in his career and moving him past Mike Farris into first place on the Eagle’s all-time tackle leader chart. Fellow linebacker Thomas Ramirez picked up a career-high 18 tackles and junior linebacker Mike Russert posted nine tackles and also recovered a fumble.
| Loyola | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
LOY – Deke 8 run (kick good)
SM – Ramsey 67 run (kick good)
LOY – Bragg 2 run (kick good)
LOY – Deke 1 run (kick good)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: –
Passing: –
Receiving: –
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
Loyola Continues Its Roll, Wins In Serra Showdown
MISSION VIEJO – Loyola High of Los Angeles is coming around at the right time.
The Cubs put together what arguably was their best effort of the season Friday at Saddleback College, dominating Santa Margarita 21-7 in a showdown for first place in the Serra League.
Junior Trason Bragg rushed for 136 yards on 23 carries and scored two touchdowns despite suffering cramps from flu medication.
Scott Deke completed 8 of 13 passes for 136 yards and scored the game's first touchdown on a 11-yard run for Loyola (6-3, 3-1), which never trailed against Santa Margarita (7-2, 2-2).
After a league-opening loss to Servite of Anaheim, Loyola can clinch its first Serra title with a victory next week at Bishop Amat of La Puente.
Loyola, Santa Margarita and Mater Dei of Santa Ana (4-4, 2-1) entered Week 9 tied for first place. Mater Dei will host Servite (6-2, 1-2) tonight at the Santa Ana Bowl.
After a shaky start that included two fumbles and an interception, Loyola scored the final 14 points to break a 7-7 tie in the second quarter against a Santa Margarita team that was off to its best start since 1998.
The Cubs took the lead for good at 14-7 on a 2-yard run by Bragg with 3:25 left before halftime. Bragg added another 2-yard touchdown on Loyola's first drive of the second half to make it 21-7.
Bragg left the game for most of the third quarter with cramps but returned to help the Cubs control the clock with a drive in the fourth quarter that lasted nearly 9 minutes.
"That was our best game offensively and defensively," Bragg said. "We expected (Santa Margarita) to play great, but we knew we could bounce back with a couple of big wins. Now, we can win it all."
Santa Margarita quarterback Mike Angelo, who has passed for nearly 1,300 yards this season, completed 11 of 16 passes for 54 yards. The bulk of Santa Margarita's 124 yards came on two plays: a 66-yard touchdown run by Chris Ramsey and a 38-yard gain by Angelo.
"Tonight our defense came to play and offensively we did enough," Loyola coach Steve Grady said. "They have to be a happy group because they have been taking a lot of (heat), but tonight they played as good as I think they could play."
By Kirby Lee
Saturday, November 8, 2003
Daily News of Los Angeles - S4
