Eagles 24 - Dorsey 6
Good things come in three for Eagles
ALISO VIEJO, CA., September 13, 2013 – It may not have been Santa Margarita’s best performance of the young season, but more importantly for the Eagles, they picked up their first win of the year Friday night, beating Dorsey of Los Angeles, 24-6, in a non-league game at Aliso Niguel High.
“They always say the first one is the hardest one and you just keep rolling,” senior running back Jeremy McNichols said. “I think we’re just going to keep rolling.”
McNichols carried the load for Santa Margarita, rushing for a game-high 153 yards on 22 carries.
“I just felt good,” McNichols said. “Offensive linemen were blocking their butts off. I had holes tonight, felt like I could just run wherever I wanted to.”
Sophomore quarterback KJ Costello threw for 101 yards, including a touchdown to his favorite target, senior Kyle Sweet, who finished with four catches for 63 yards and one rush for 12 yards. Costello also ran for a touchdown and was intercepted twice.
Jonathan LaBonty led the Santa Margarita defense, recovering a fumble and intercepting a pass.
After a scoreless, ugly first quarter, Santa Margarita opened the scoring midway through the second. McNichols’ 5-yard touchdown run capped a 60-yard drive and Alex Ury’s extra point put the Eagles ahead, 7-0.
Just before halftime, Santa Margarita went 73 yards in 1:28, capped by an 18-yard Costello-to-Sweet connection, to push the lead to 14-0 going into the break.
The Eagles came out quickly in the second half, scoring just 90 seconds into the third quarter on a Costello keeper. Ury added a 25-yard field goal midway through the third quarter, putting Santa Margarita ahead, 24-0.
Dorsey (1-1) never got into the end zone against Santa Margarita’s first unit. The Dons scored their only points on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Noah Whitney to David Williams, in the fourth quarter.
With the victory, Santa Margarita (1-2) avoided starting 0-3 for the first time in program history.
“I believe if we make a good effort every week and we make some mistakes and we work on minimizing those mistakes, we can keep getting better,” Eagles coach Harry Welch said. “But we needed this tonight and I’m glad we got it.”
| Santa Margarita | 0 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
| Dorsey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
SM – McNichols 5 run (Ury kick)
SM – Sweet 18 pass from Costello (Ury kick)
SM – Costello 3 run (Ury kick)
SM – Ury 25 FG
DOR – Williams 36 pass from Whitney (Lovo kick failed)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: Dor - Jones 32-114, Washington 2-8; SM - McNichols 22-153, Hume 6-36
Passing: Dor - Whitney 9-26-1-111; SM - Costello 7-18-2-101
Receiving: Dor - Lawson 2-31, Williams 6-76; SM - Sweat 4-63, McNiff 1-15
By John Wilkinson
Saturday, September 14, 2013
The Orange County Register - Varsity 7
