St. John Bosco 30 - Eagles 20
MISSION VIEJO, CA., October 29, 2004 – Kenneth Brown intercepted a Jon Daniels pass and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown with 0:53 remaining to secure a 30-20 win for the St. John Bosco Braves over the Eagles (3-5, 0-3) at Saddleback College. It was the host’s fifth consecutive Serra League loss dating back to last year and put their playoff hopes and 15-year streak of consecutive non-losing seasons at risk.
For most of the first half the Braves (5-3, 2-1) were unable to contain the multi-dimentional Eagle offense nor were they able to sustain much offense. However, the game was eerily similar to the previous week when Santa Margarita stormed out to a comfortable lead only to surrender 20 unanswered points and get saddled with the heartbreaking loss. The game started out promising as Eagle cornerback Colin Schmit recovered a Brave fumble on the opening possession and three plays later Daniels connected with sophomore sensation Ryan Maxwell on a 36-yard scoring pass for the lead at the 9:35 mark. Unfortunately the PAT was missed making it 6-0. The Braves managed to take the lead later in the quarter when Daniel Jenkins scored from three yards out. They padded the lead to 10-6 on 42-yard field goal by Mike Aguila on their next possession when a short field gave them good field position.
From there the Eagle offense clicked as they went on a 10-play 80-yard drive capped by Omar Villamar’s one-yard plunge to make it 13-10. Key plays were an 18-yard completion from Daniels to Jacob Gordon (four receptions for 35 yards), an 11-yard scramble by Daniels for a first down and a leaping 27-yard completion to Kyle Bryant to set up a first-and-goal at the one. After forcing a three-and-out Maxwell returned a punt 53 yards for an apparent touchdown, but it was nullified due to a clip. That didn’t stop the Eagles as they marched to paydirt on the legs of Villamar (25-83) and Maxwell and a beautiful 14-yard scoring strike from Daniels to Bryant (four for 53) to make it 20-10 with 2:52 left in the half.
From there it was all Braves as they managed to put together a 12-play drive in the closing moments before Aguila kicked a 20-yard field goal to make it 20-13 at the break. In the second half the Eagles couldn’t recapture any of their momentum as they punted on four consecutive possessions as the Braves clawed ahead 23-20. With 4:57 left and the ball on their own 38, the Eagles used a mix of runs and passes to bring the ball to the visitor’s 15. On third-and-four Daniels was hit by a defensive lineman and his pass in the flat to Bryan Redsun was intercepted by Brown and the Eagles were suddenly down by 10. A muff by an Eagle upback on a squib kick was recovered by the Braves and they simply ran out the remaining seconds.
Senior Linebackers Mike Rusert (14 tackles) and Colby Rodgers (13 tackles) along with junior strong safety JD Dawson (10 tackles and a sack) led the defensive effort.
| St. John Bosco | 10 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 30 |
| Santa Margarita | 6 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
SM – Maxwell 36 pass from Daniels (kick failed)
SJB – Jenkins 3 run (Aguila kick)
SJB – Aguila 42 FG
SM – Villamar 1 run (Fowle kick)
SM – Bryant 13 pass from Daniels (Fowle kick)
SJB – Aguila 20 FG
SJB – Aguila 42 FG
SJB – J. Brown 37 pass from Uranga (Aguila kick)
SJB – K. Brown 85 interception return (Aguila kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SJB - Edwards 20-127, Jenkins 12-85; SM - Villamar 26-80, Daniels 4-22
Passing: SJB - Edwards 5-10-0-48; SM - Daniels 11-17-1-150
Receiving: SJB - Washington 3-41, Brown 1-37; SM - Bryant 4-55, Gordon 3-28
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
Eagles pushed to the brink
MISSION VIEJO – Santa Margarita saw its playoff hopes dwindle in the worst way in a 30-20 loss to St. John Bosco of Bellflower on Friday night at Saddleback College.
The Eagles, down 23-20 with a minute remaining, had the ball on St. John Bosco's 15-yard line on third-and-4 when Kenneth Brown intercepted Jon Daniels' pass and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown. It was the third consecutive close loss for the Eagles (3-5, 0-3), who need to win their final two Serra League games to be eligible for an at-large berth.
"We're not putting teams away when we need to," Santa Margarita coach Mike Jacot said.
Santa Margarita took a 20-10 lead late in the first half on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Kyle Bryant. The Braves (5-3, 2-1) got one field goal and a 37-yard, go-ahead touchdown on a double pass in the second half.
Ryan Maxwell caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to open the scoring before he left because of a shoulder stinger, Jacot said.
By Curtis Zupke
Saturday, October 30, 2004
The Orange County Register
