Eagles 21 - Fountain Valley 9
MISSION VIEJO, CA., September 30, 2005 – Jon Daniels tossed two touchdown passes and junior RB Chris Spangenberg ran for 63 yards and a score as the Eagles rebounded from last weeks loss to Orange Lutheran to defeat the Fountain Valley Barons 21-9 before a raucous crowd of 6,000 for homecoming. The win improved the Eagles to 3-1 while the Barons fell to 1-3.
The Eagles took control from the start as they marched 64 yards on their opening possession on just eight plays to take a 7-0 lead at the 8:35 mark of the first quarter. Daniels’ 24-yard strike to Ryan Maxwell put the Eagles in Baron territory and a 12-yard strike to Derek Cisna and 22-yarder to Jacob Gordon picked up first downs before Spangenberg took in from the five. On the Barons first offensive play JD Dawson forced a fumble that was recovered by Maxwell on the 20. After a 13-yard completion from Daniels to Gordon (five receptions for 55 yards) Daniels hit tight end Ross Cumming in the flat for a seven-yard score at the 7:58 mark and a 14-0 lead.
The Barons responded with a 63-yard scoring drive to make it 14-6 but Daniels and John Angelo got right to work taking the Eagles 65-yards on only six plays to make it 21-9. Angelo had runs of 9 and 14 on the drive while Daniels (11 of 19 for 127 yards) ran for 19 on his own before a 17-yard TD pass to Maxwell with 9:45 left in the half closed out the scoring.
Once again the Eagles had difficulties in the second half, but defensively the Eagles played outstanding again as they limited the Barons to 237 yards and only one TD while forcing three turnovers and five sacks. Sophomore defensive tackle Logan Harrell recovered a fumble and logged 1½ sacks to lead the defense while Fred Carrera added 1½ sacks on his own.
| Santa Margarita | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Fountain Valley | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
SM – Spangenberg 5 run (Reisinger kick)
SM – Cumming 8 pass from Daniels (Reisinger kick)
FV – Diaz 13 run (kick failed)
SM – Maxwell 12 pass from Daniels (Reisinger kick)
FV – FG Spirk 36
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: FV - Aoyagi 13-47, Doorish 1-16; SM - Spangenberg 9-63, Angelo 9-45
Passing: FV - Webber 15-24-1 119; SM - Daniels 11-19-2 127
Receiving: FV - Spirk 5-51, Lewis 3-37; SM - Gordon 5-55, Cisna 2-24
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
No. 5 Santa Margarita denies Fountain Valley
MISSION VIEJO – No. 5 Santa Margarita has looked dominant in stretches during the 2005 high school football season. At other times, not so much.
The trend continued Friday as the Eagles (3-1) used a strong first half to defeat Fountain Valley, 21-9, in a non league game in front of an overflow, homecoming crowd at Saddleback College.
Santa Margarita, which squandered a 19-point lead to Orange Lutheran last week, again raced out to an early lead but held on for the victory this time. The inability to string together two consistent halves of football has frustrated Coach Mike Jacot.
"It was an ugly win," Jacot said. "We keep doing the same things, where we shoot ourselves in the foot with turnovers. We want to open up the offense, but every time we do, it backfires."
The Eagles scored in three of their first four possessions starting with Chris Spangenberg's 5-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Jon Daniels tossed touchdown passes to Ross Cumming and Ryan Maxwell to open a 21-6 halftime lead. Santa Margarita had two other opportunities deep in Barons (1-3) territory stopped in the first half on interceptions.
The Eagles offense sputtered in the second half as it failed to put together a scoring drive. Daniels completed 11 of 19 passes for 122 yards. Spangenberg led all rushers with 57 yards on seven attempts.
Santa Margarita's defense was solid as it limited Fountain Valley to only one touchdown on Michael Diaz's 13-yard touchdown run.
"The defense played a solid game," Jacot said. "It was nice to bounce back from what happened last week. But we still have a lot of work to do.
“We have to start playing well in both halves. Playing well for only one half is not going to cut it once we get into the Serra League."
By Adam Rank
Saturday, October 1, 2005
The Orange County Register - Varsity 4
