Eagles 23 - Orange Lutheran 7
MISSION VIEJO, CA., October 28, 2016 – After dropping their first three league games and just two remaining in the 2016 regular season, the Eagles found themselves in an alarming position, winless in league. Under CIF rules, a team needs to have a .500 record or better to be considered eligible for the playoffs. Going into last week’s matchup, the Eagles were 4-4 overall, which would mean they would have to win at least one of their last two games to secure a .500 season. Orange Lutheran had previously defeated JSerra and Servite as they sat comfortably at 2-1 in league and 5-3 overall. With their backs against the wall, the Eagles stepped up as they would move their overall record to 5-4 in defeating the Lancers 23-7. After last week’s win, Santa Margarita now finds themselves in control of a third place position if they are to defeat Servite tonight in the regular season finale.
The story of the game last week was the Eagle defense, as they would hold the high-octane Lancer offense to just seven points on 92 passing yards and 130 rushing yards. Last week, the Lancers rushed for 258 yards and passed for 149 yards in their 49-42 victory over Servite. The star for the Lancers was running back Dominik Austin, who rushed for 233 yards on 32 carries. Last week, the Eagles held Austin to just 30 yards on seven carries. More impressive than containing the Lancer running game was the work done by the Eagle secondary, holding Orange Lutheran to just 92 receiving yards. Going into the game, the Lancers were averaging more than 171 receiving yards and the Eagles were able to contain their number one target in Stan Berryhill to a modest 62 receiving yards and their lone touchdown that came with just a minute left in the game.
Offensively, the Eagles were just about as balanced as you could be, rushing the ball for 168 yards and passing for 170. Senior quarterback Richard Wagner was nearly perfect, completing 15 of 18 passes (83%) for 170 yards and a touchdown. The recipient of the lone passing touchdown was none other than Chad Magyar, who caught five passes for 49 yards and would rush the ball 18 times for 96 yards. Featuring the wildcat, junior Malone Mataele racked up two rushing touchdowns on four carries for 19 yards. Mataele now leads the Eagles in All-Purpose yards with 914, just ahead of Magyar’s 909.
The regular season comes to a close tonight at Saddleback College when the Eagle host Servite with kickoff set for 7:00pm. Servite currently sits at 4-5 overall and 1-3 in league play with their only win coming at the hands of JSerra. The Eagles are 5-4 overall and 1-3 in league play and if they are to win tonight, they take sole possession of third place and are guaranteed a spot in the Division 1 playoffs. If they lose to Servite, their odds of making it into the playoffs are still strong, but their seeding in the playoffs would take a hard hit. Servite averages 257 receiving yard and 111 rushing yards per game, the Eagles are averaging 206 receiving yards and 157 rushing yards.
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 23 |
| Orange Lutheran | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
SM – Magyar 9 pass from Wagner (Brady kick)
SM – Mataele 4 run (Brady kick missed)
SM – Brady 44 FG
SM – Mataele 3 run (Brady kick)
OLU – Berryhill 11 pass from Capen (Loya kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: OLU - Arredondo 10-51 ; SM - Magyar 18-96; Wagner 4-34, Green 11-33
Passing: OLU - Hilinski 6-14-1-45; SM - Wagner 15-19-0-170
Receiving: OLU - Berryhill 6-62; SM - Pozzuoli 4-57, Calcaterra 5-54, Magyar 5-49
Total Tackles: Caden Fitch, 85 tackles
Sacks: Malik McClain, 5.5 sacks
Interceptions: 5 tied (1, D. Fernandez, J. Canty, B. Gibbons, R. Caragao, J. Tollner)
Sean Zeitler
Sports Information Director
Santa Margarita comes through with crucial win over Orange Lutheran
MISSION VIEJO – Santa Margarita snapped a three-game losing streak and shook up the Trinity League playoff race Friday night with a 23-7 victory over Orange Lutheran at Saddleback College.
Richard Wagner passed for 170 yards and Chad Magyar rushed for 95 as the Eagles (5-4, 1-3) got their first league win and clinched at least a .500 overall record to stay in the running for an at-large berth in Division 1.
Orange Lutheran (5-4, 2-2) could have clinched the league’s third-place berth with a win but now must beat St. John Bosco next week to do that.
Santa Margarita finishes with Servite, but Eagles coach Rich Fisher didn’t want to talk about the complex playoff picture.
“I don’t worry about what we can’t control,” he said. “We’re going to be on to Servite tomorrow and whatever happens at the end of the year happens.”
The Eagles kept their hopes alive Friday with a balanced, ball-control offense and smothering defense.
“For the most part we were able to keep the ball on the ground and keep the clock rolling,” said Fisher. “I thought the defense was really the name of the game. (Orange Lutheran) never really got much going.”
The Lancers played most of the game without Dominick Austin, the Orange County Offensive Player of the Week last week after running for 233 yards in a 49-42 win over Servite. Austin didn’t start Friday and ran for just 21 yards on five plays.
“He was sick all week, didn’t go to school a couple of days, and we didn’t feel like he was really healthy,” said Lancers coach Chuck Petersen.
The Lancers also lost quarterback Ryan Hilinski to an injury with nine minutes left in the game, but Petersen made no excuses.
“I’ll give them the credit,” he said. “I shared with my guys early in the week that the most desperate team would win the football game, and I’ll take that on me. They whipped us up front on both sides of the ball. They appeared to be the team that wanted to play hard and I’ll take that on me.”
Santa Margarita took a 13-0 halftime lead, scoring on its first possession on Wagner’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Magyar just 3:06 into the game.
Malone Mataele made it 13-0 on a 4-yard run with 8:25 left in the half. Dylan Brady hit a 44-yard field goal late in the third quarter to make it 16-0.
Mataele’s second touchdown, on a 3-yard run, upped the lead to 23-0 with 4:33 left in the game.
Magyar was a key to the Eagles’ offense all night, with six catches for 51 yards to go with his 95 rushing yards. He ran the ball 17 times, nine in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.
Orange Lutheran averted the shutout as backup quarterback Cole Capen drove the Lancers 80 yards in 14 plays, capping it with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Stan Berryhill. Capen was 6-of-9 passing for 48 yards, after Hilinski went 6-of-14 for 44 yards. Berryhill caught six passes for 63 yards. Michael Arredondo rushed 11 times for 57 yards.
By OC Varsity
Saturday, October 29, 2016
The Orange County Register
