St. Paul - Game Notes
The St. Paul game marks the start of the Eagles’ 16th varsity season and their 6th in both CIF-SS Division I and as part of the highly competitive Serra League.
Last year, the Eagles finished 7-4 and advanced to the CIF Playoffs for the 14th time in 15 seasons. They lost to Los Alamitos 20-10 in the first round of the D-I playoffs.
The Eagles have gone 8-0-1 in their last nine season openers, and 11-3-1 overall. Their last opening game loss was in 1994 when they fell 17-12 at Trabuco Hills. They are also 12-3 in road openers.
This is the third game between Santa Margarita and the St. Paul Swordsmen. Last year, Omar Villamar rushed for 89 yards, Chris Ramsey added 63 and Jack Meehan posted 14 tackles as the Eagles defeated the Swordsmen 16-7 in Mike Jacot’s debut as Eagle Head Coach. In 2001, Ashton White carried 30 times for 171 yards and scored two touchdowns, while QB Marshall Tharpe ran for two touchdowns himself as the Eagles used an effective ball control attack to defeat St. Paul 28-14 before 3,000 diehard fans at “The Pit”. A recap of both the 2003 and 2001 games are included herein.
St. Paul is 1-0 in 2004 after defeating Long Beach Wilson 48-20
last week. They finished the 2003 season 10-3 and won the Mission
League. They advanced to the CIF Division III quarter-finals where
they lost 14-6 to Palmdale. They are led by legendary coach Marion
Ancich who is entering his 29th season at St. Paul. He is the
winningest coach in California prep history with a 332-108-8 (.750)
mark. Coach Ancich is 0-3 vs. Santa Margarita losing 35-21 as
Tustin’s Head Coach in 1992 and twice with the Swordsmen
(28-14 in 2001 and 16-7 in 2003).
Eagle - Swordsmen History (SM leads series 1-0)
2001 (Week 6) SM 28, St. Paul 14 @ St. Paul High School
2003 (Week 1) SM 16, St. Paul 7 @ Saddleback College
Situational Record – St. Paul Game
Varsity Game No. and Record: 181 129-48-3 (.725)
Road Game No. and Record: 88 58-29 (.667)
Week 1 Record (Season Openers): 11-3-1 (.767)
Record in Road Openers: 12-3 (.800)
Record vs. St. Paul: 2-0 (2004 is 3rd Mtg)
Record at St. Paul “The Pit”: 1-0
(1.000)
Record vs. Los Angeles County Schools: 28-10
(.757)
Record vs. Catholic Schools: 24-13-1 (.645)
Record on Friday: 108-40-3 (.725)
Record as a Division I team: 35-19-2 (.642)
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
