Eagles 21 - Fountain Valley 3
Eagles defense takes control. Spangenberg scores three touchdowns.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA., September 29, 2006 – Santa Margarita's defense nearly left Fountain Valley barren Friday night at Huntington Beach High. Backed by a break but don't bend defense, the Eagles beat the Barons, 21-3, in a non-league football game.
The Eagles defense, namely defensive linemen Logan Harrell (three sacks) and linebacker Mike Lacy, forced Fountain Valley into a hurry-up offense - even with plenty of time on the clock.
Santa Margarita, the county's sixth-ranked team, allowed 131 yards of total offense.
"That's our M.O. on defense: play fast, hard and simple," Santa Margarita coach Mike Jacot said. "We like to let them run around. You have to give Fountain Valley credit. We've been getting two to three turnovers a game. And we had none tonight."
Santa Margarita's offense, which ran mostly out of the "pistol" formation (the quarterback is 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage, as opposed to the usual seven, with the running back lined up 2 yards behind him), also was firing on all cylinders.
"We wanted to throw more, and we had the opportunities down field; we just didn't hit on them," Jacot said.
Chris Spangenberg scored all of Santa Margarita's touchdowns on runs of 19, 6 and 6 to improve the Eagles to 4-0. Fountain Valley fell to 4-1.
"It's always tough to play a team with some confidence," Jacot said. "They're 4-0 and celebrating homecoming. We've always had a good battle with (Fountain Valley). This was our first game off the bye week. It was good to shake off the rust."
Spangenberg, the Eagles starting running back, had 160 rushing yards on 20 carries. Spangenberg scored twice in the first half.
The Eagles did have one final T.O. problem.
Santa Margarita could have increased its lead right before the half if not for a questionable call from either Eagles coach Mike Jacot or from the crew of officials.
Jacot believed the Eagles had the ball, first-and-20, at the Barons 2-yard line with 12 seconds to go. Quarterback Eric Reisinger (14 of 18 for 154 yards) spiked the ball to set up a second-and-goal. But the officials ruled Reisinger's spike came on fourth down, not first, forcing the Eagles to turn the ball over on downs.
"I told the guys we'd either get the touchdown or get the field goal unit out there," Jacot said.
"It was a blown call by the refs, and it's on me too. I should've stuck with my gut."
It's believed that the scoreboard operator gave the Eagles a first down when one hadn't been signaled on the field.
Fountain Valley's TJ Tafaoga saw a punt ricochet off him, giving the Eagles the ball at the Barons 30 to start the second half. Spangenberg scored the third of his touchdowns with 9:44 left in the third quarter.
Santa Margarita faces Foothill at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Saddleback College. The Barons have a bye.
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 21 |
| Fountain Valley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
FV – Spirk 35 FG
SM – Spangenberg 19 run (Reisinger kick)
SM – Spangenberg 6 run (Reisinger kick)
SM – Spangenberg 6 run (Reisinger Kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: FV - Blake 10-25, Little 4-5; SM - Hovsepian 1-0, Reisinger 7-3, Spangenberg 20-160, Davis 3-19
Passing: FV - Blake 13-18-0-109; SM - Reisinger 12-18-0-154
Receiving: FV - Spirk 2-27, Little 8-57; SM - Maxwell 4-59
Records: SM 0-0, 4-0 FV 0-0, 4-1
By K.J.M. Singleton
Saturday, September 30, 2006
The Orange County Register - Varsity 5
