Eagles 31 - Orange Lutheran 10
Stanton leads the way for Santa Margarita
MISSION VIEJO, CA., October 21, 2011 – Santa Margarita and Orange Lutheran came into Friday's matchup ranked in the county's top 10 and in the CIF-SS Pac-5 Division top 10, but both teams had their backs against the wall and were facing a must-win situation after losing their Trinity League openers last week.
Eagles quarterback Johnny Stanton turned in one of the best performances of his career, scoring two rushing touchdowns in the final quarter to seal a 31-10 victory over the Lancers at Saddleback College.
"We were all pumped up after last week's game," Stanton said.
"We weren't going to let another team come into our home and take us out. It was completely important (to win). If we had lost this game, we would have had to get by Servite, St. John Bosco and JSerra to get in the playoffs. It's really hard to get in the playoffs in the Trinity League, but two teams can't get in."
Stanton rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries and he completed 13 of 17 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown without an interception.
"I think John Stanton is one of the finer quarterbacks to be in California," Santa Margarita coach Harry Welch said. "Last week, a lot of people blamed him for the (loss). I thought the way he responded — I don't know what his stats were — boy, you could feel it on the sideline.
"He was a leader. He was the engine that pulled us through tonight."
Welch felt he had to get on his team this week in practice after the 21-14 loss to Mater Dei last week.
"We didn't play our best last week because I didn't have them ready," Welch said. "I didn't know if they were going to respond to me this week. I thought I might lose them.
"I was very hard on the kids this week. I wasn't sure. I didn't know if they were going to buy in or that I had made a mistake. I thought from the first series they were playing crisply and enthusiastically. I though they did all of the things that a good football team does."
Santa Margarita (6-1, 1-1) plays JSerra next Friday at Saddleback College.
Orange Lutheran (5-2, 0-2), which plays Mater Dei next Friday at Orange Coast College, has no wiggle room at all after back-to-back league losses to Servite and Santa Margarita. The six-team Trinity League has four teams ranked in the Pac-5 top 10, but there are only three playoff berths.
"It's definitely a do-or-die deal, that's for sure," Lancers coach Jim Kunau said. "We just have to regroup.
"I think about Mark Twain. The reports of our death have been wildly exaggerated. Our heart's still beating, so we just gotta get 'em fired up again. We have a chance to play a great team next week and do something special."
Santa Margarita took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead. Stanton hit Cory Mendoza for a 21-yard gain, Ryan Wolpin broke a 41-yard run into Lancers' territory. Wolpin ended up capping the drive with a 1-yard run.
Orange Lutheran responded with a 14-play drive before settling on a 22-yard field goal field goal by Jos Cornelius to cut the Eagles' lead to 7-3.
John McGrory kicked a 22-yard field goal early in the second quarter to push Santa Margarita's lead to 10-3, but Orange Lutheran responded with a 10-play 49-yard scoring drive. Jabari Wilson scored on a 4-yard run to tie it, 10-10.
Stanton's 5-yard TD pass to Connor O'Brien made it 17-10.
Lancers quarterback Connor Sullivan was 10 of 10 for 117 yards in the first half and Stanton was 10 of 11 for 130 yards.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Santa Margarita put together a 14-play, 85-yard scoring drive to start the fourth quarter. Stanton and Wolpin took turns grinding out yards on the ground. Stanton finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run, giving the Eagles a 24-10 with 4:48 remaining.
The Lancers drove to Santa Margarita's 49 before they were faced with a fourth-and-1. Sullivan dumped off a pass to Akheli Andrew, but Reid Andrew leveled him for no gain and the Eagles took over on downs.
Wolpin, who rushed for 105 yards on 17 carries, broke a 35-yard run on the next play and Stanton eventually scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to seal the Lancers fate with 1:31 remaining.
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 31 |
| Orange Lutheran | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
SM – Wolpin 1 run (McGrory kick)
OL – Cornelius 22 FG
SM – McGrory 22 FG
OL – Wilson 4 run (Cornelius kick)
SM – O'Brien 5 pass from Stanton (McGrory kick)
SM – Stanton 10 run (McGrory kick)
SM – Stanton 3 run (McGrory kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: OL - Sullivan 10-(-2), Wilson 9-33, Drake 3-14; SM - Stanton 13-117, Wolpin 17-105
Passing: OL - Sullivan 20-24-2-189; SM - Stanton 13-17-0-164
Receiving: OL - Cooper 5-38, Holman 5-89; SM - Wolpin 1-3, O'Brien 6-60, Modster 2-39
By Carlos Arias
Friday, October 21, 2011
The Orange County Register
