Eagles 44 - MLK 14
King hurt by mistakes, penalties in loss to Santa Margarita
RIVERSIDE – Already facing an uphill climb, Riverside King’s football team wound up forcing its own avalanche.
Visiting Santa Margarita got a safety six seconds into Thursday night’s nonleague game at King, and junior running back Chad Magyar added three touchdowns a little later as the Eagles rolled to a 44-14 victory.
King (1-3) trailed, 30-0, at the half and was hurt by several penalties and a second botched snap that killed a subsequent drive and squashed any momentum the Wolves might’ve gained against a perennial Orange County powerhouse.
“We stumbled out of the gate and had a lot of errors that set us in negative situations,” King coach Kevin Corridan said. “We’re better than that.”
Of course, Santa Margarita (4-1), ranked No. 8 in Division 1, had something to do with it, too. The Eagles piled up 351 yards of total offense and capped five of their first seven drives with touchdowns.
Magyar finished with 151 yards on 20 carries and ran for touchdown runs of 7 and 5 yards in the first quarter. Fellow junior Malone Mataele scored on two second-quarter punt returns for touchdowns of 58 and 50 yards. The second of which went right up the middle through the King coverage with 2:36 left in the half.
“He hasn’t had many opportunities – people just don’t kick to him,” Santa Margarita coach Rich Fisher said. “But he’s obviously a dangerous weapon when the ball is in his hands.”
The Wolves played a much better game in the second half. Quarterback Bradley Kleven threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jarrod Favors on the opening possession of the third quarter, and junior running back Darrian Bell added a 14-yard scoring run late in the frame.
That improvement was a positive, especially after limiting the mistakes.
“That’s the beauty of preseason football,” Corridan said. “You get to learn from those kinds of things.”
Bell finished with 106 yards rushing on 22 carries – all in the second half.
“He ran his tail off,” Corridan said. “Darrian did a wonderful job. He’s been kind of dinged up (with injury) and he made the most of his chances out there.”
Santa Margarita senior quarterback Richard Wagner finished 13 of 17 for 172 yards passing.
| Santa Margarita | 16 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 44 |
| Martin Luther King | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
SM – McClain safety in endzone
SM – Magyar 8 run (Brady kick)
SM – Magyar 5 run (Brady kick)
SM – Mataele 58 punt return (Brady kick)
SM – Mataele 49 punt return (Brady kick)
MLK – Favors pass from Kleven (kick)
SM – Hastings 9 run (Brady kick)
MLK – Bell 14 run (kick)
SM – Magyar 3 run (Brady kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: MLK - Bell 23-114, Murry 10-47; SM - Magyar 18-147, Hastings 5-21
Passing: MLK - Kleven 11-20-0-99; SM - Wagner 13-18-0-161
Receiving: MLK - McCullouch 5-60, Fvors 1-15; SM - Magyar 5-52, McCartan 4-45
By Landon Negri
Friday, September 23, 2016
The Orange County Register
