Eagles 49 - Westlake 8
MISSION VIEJO, CA., September 16, 2016 – The Eagles laid a lot of groundwork last Friday night when they beat Westlake High School, 49-8. Pun intended. The Eagles kept it on the ground as they would rush for 257 yards and scored all seven of their touchdowns via the run game. Rushing by committee, eight Eagles helped contribute to their 35 carries on the night including junior Chad Magyar who scored two first half touchdowns and finished his evening with five carries for 58 yards. Senior quarterback Richard Wagner rushed three times for 36 yards, two of which went for touchdowns as well. Wagner was economical in the passing game, completing 13 of 16 passes (81%) for 132 yards. The Eagles would outscore the Warriors 42-0 going into the half, 28 in the second quarter alone, which would necessitate a running clock for the second half of the game.
Getting in on the scoring action was senior running back Trey Green, who rushed for 21 yards on four carries with a touchdown, Oklahoma-bound senior Grant Calcaterra carried the ball once for 23 yards for a touchdown, and sophomore Kyle Hastings saw his first varsity action and made the best of it, carrying the ball three times for 15 yards and a score. Sophomore quarterback Brenden Costello saw plenty of action in the second half and gave Westlake’s defense issues, as he would tack on 61 rushing yards on six carries.
With the run game firing on all cylinders, the passing game wasn’t crucial, but Wagner did his part to distribute the rock. Calcaterra would haul in five passes for 58 yards, Magyar had three catches for 24 yards, Mark Eaton caught two passes for 21 yards, Green had two catches for 18 yards, and Giulio Pozzuoli had a catch for 11 yards.
The Warrior’s offense never found a rhythm due to a swarming Eagle defense. Westlake was held scoreless well into the fourth quarter before the Eagles gave up a touchdown and a two point conversion late in the game. Junior defensive tackle Alex Kilander made his presence felt all night, as he led all Eagles with six total tackles including a sack that was good for a 13 yard loss. Junior cornerback Jordan Tollner recorded his first career varsity interception, kicker Dylan Brady was seven for seven on PAT’s and recorded four touchbacks on eight kickoffs. Offensively, the Eagles are now averaging 199.8 rushing yards, 219.3 passing yards, and 419 total yards per game. Defensively, they are averaging 58 tackles and two sacks per game.
The Eagles (3-1) have now rattled off three wins in a row as they head into their matchup with MLK High School. The Wolves (1-2) are averaging 12.7 points per game and the Eagles are averaging 38.8 points per game.
In their three game winning streak, the Eagles have scored 134 points and have kept their opponents to just 50, 35 of which came from Alemany High School alone. This high powered offense is now turning heads, as the Eagles find themselves ranked #14 in this week’s High School Football America Southern California Top 25.
| Santa Margarita | 14 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 49 |
| Westlake | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
SM – Magyar 19 run (Brady kick)
SM – Green 3 run (Brady kick)
SM – Calcaterra 23 run (Brady kick)
SM – Wagner 15 run (Brady kick)
SM – Wagner 17 run (Brady kick)
SM – Magyar 22 run (Brady kick)
SM – Hasting 14 run (Brady kick)
WL – Kuhl 33 pass from Kaplinski (Kuhl pass from Kaplinski)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Costello 7-57, Magyar 6-66, Williams 8-44; West - Heller 5-4
Passing: SM - Wagner 12-15-0-111; West - Kaplinski 3-8-1-78
Receiving: SM - Green 2-19, Calcaterra 4-35, Magyar 3-24; West - Siderman 1-35, Carner 2-25, Kuhl 3-51
Sean Zeitler
Sports Information Director
Santa Margarita routs Westlake with big first half
MISSION VIEJO – Santa Margarita’s first string got off work early Friday night.
Most of the starting Eagles played just the first half in a 49-8 rout of Westlake in a nonleague game at Saddleback College.
Richard Wagner and Chad Magyar each ran for two first-half touchdowns and Wagner led a balanced offense with 111 passing yards on 12-of-15 accuracy as the Eagles (3-1 and ranked No. 3 in Orange County) rolled up a 42-0 halftime lead.
The huge lead dictated a running clock for the second half and brought in the second-string Eagles, who tacked on another touchdown on Kyle Hastings’ 14-yard run with 1:56 left in the third quarter.
Westlake (1-3) avoided a shutout with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Jake Kaplinski to Carson Kuhl and a 2-point conversion pass by the same duo with 5:36 left in the game.
The offensive stats don’t reflect Santa Margarita’s dominance because the Eagles’ defense provided excellent field position all night. The entire second quarter was played on Westlake’s side of the field as the Eagles forced seven consecutive punts in the game, two of them shanked out of bounds and one returned 19 yards by Malone Mataele.
Santa Margarita held the Warriors to 5 yards rushing and 116 for the night. Alex Kilander and Luke Bobruk had sacks, Kyle Osborne recovered a fumble and Jordan Tollner had an interception.
Westlake forced a Santa Margarita 3-and-out on the first possession of the game, but that was the last time the Warriors would stop the Eagles. Westlake muffed the ensuing punt, and Santa Margarita converted it into Magyar’s 19-yard touchdown run just 2:08 into the game.
That started a string of seven consecutive touchdowns on the Eagles’ next seven possessions. All came on runs, including a 22-yard jaunt by Oklahoma-bound receiver Grant Calcaterra.
Magyar led the rushing attack with 66 yards on six carries, and backup quarterback Brendan Costello carried seven times for 57 yards. Bryce Williams ran for 44 yards on eight carries, all in the fourth quarter.
Santa Margarita will play at Martin Luther King in Riverside next Thursday.
By OC Varsity
Friday, September 16, 2016
The Orange County Register
