Eagles 28 - Trabuco Hills 26
Closing The Gap. The Eagles hang on when the Mustangs miss a 2-point try in the final minute
MISSION VIEJO, CA., September 26, 2013 – The schools are neighbors, in geography and in the rankings.
They are very close to each other on the football field, too.
Santa Margarita beat Trabuco Hills, 28-26, on Thursday in a wild and dramatic non-league game at Trabuco Hills High School.
Trabuco Hills scored a touchdown on a 10-yard run by quarterback Tommy Kelley with 31 seconds to go. The Mustangs had to go for two points to tie it and force overtime. Kelley, under pressure, threw high and incomplete on the pass intended for Michael Newsom at the back of the endzone. Trabuco had missed an extra-point kick in the third quarter when the Mustangs took their only lead at 20-14. Santa Margarita scored a touchdown and made the extra-point kick to regain the lead, 21-20, then did so again with 3:34 left in the game to increase its lead to 28-20.
On their final possession, the Mustangs, with help of a Santa Margarita personal foul penalty and two firstdown passes from Kelley to Jacob Breeland, maneuvered to the Santa Margarita 10 where Kelley delivered his touchdown run.
The Santa Margarita and Trabuco Hills campuses are five miles apart. They are side by side in the Orange County rankings, in which Santa Margarita is No. 4 and Trabuco Hills is No. 5.
Trabuco Hills coach Scott Orloff said the Mustangs proved they are close to the Eagles in other ways, too.
"This showed we can play with the big boys, we can play with the Trinity League," Orloff said. "We had quite a few sacks, we never gave up. That extra point we missed really hurt. We had some guys open in the end zone but he threw a little too high."
Santa Margarita has won three in a row to conclude the non-league portion of its schedule at 3-2.
The Eagles, after a bye next week, open Trinity League play against St. John Bosco of Bellflower, the No. 2 team in the state in calhisports.com's California rankings.
Trabuco is 4-1. The Mustangs play another Trinity League team, No. 8 JSerra, in a home game next Friday, They open South Coast League play against Tesoro on Oct. 11.
Santa Margarita sophomore quarterback KJ Costello completed 22 of 32 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Kyle Sweet had 12 receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown.
Eagles senior running back Jeremy McNichols rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns. His second touchdown, a 1-yard run with 3:34 left in the game, made it 28-20 after his 49-yard touchdown catch-and-run had returned the lead to the Eagles.
The 1-yard touchdown run concluded a seven-minute, 60-yard drive that included two McNichols' touchdown runs negated by Santa Margarita penalties.
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Trabuco Hills | 6 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 26 |
SM – Sweet 30 pass from Costello (Ury kick)
TH – O'Malley 65 pass from Kelley (Cuzzupoli kick)
SM – McNichols 2 run (Ury kick)
TH – Breeland 45 pass from Kelley (Cuzzupoli kick)
TH – O'Malley 10 pass from Kelley (Cuzzupoli kick failed)
SM – McNichols 49 pass from Costello (Ury kick)
SM – McNichols 1 pass from Costello (Ury kick)
TH – Kelley 10 run (Kelley pass failed)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - McNichols 21-117, Mark 3-8; TH - Kelley 11-45, Hettinger 10-52
Passing: SM - Costello 22-32-1-297; TH - Kelley 18-30-1-222
Receiving: SM - Sweet 12-146, McNichols 5-75; TH - Breeland 4-82, Thompson 5-35
By Steve Fryer
Friday, September 27, 2013
The Orange County Register - Sports 1
