Orange Lutheran 39 - Eagles 37
COSTA MESA, CA., September 28, 2018 – If you are a Santa Margarita High School football fan and you see a record of 2-4, 0-1, you might be scratching your head and wondering how you got there. Having a 2-3 non-league schedule as a member of the Trinity league, the daunting six-team gauntlet, makes for a bleak forecast to put it mildly. All of that brings us back to the original question, “how did you get there?” Well let’s take a deeper look.
Through the first six games of the 2018 season, the Eagle opponents have a combined overall record of 29-10, while the combined record of the four teams that they have lost to is 22-4. Despite those four losses, The Eagles have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 231-169 and have lost by a combined 24 points. The Eagles boast a roster loaded with young talent, none more obvious than that of sophomore quarterback Peter Costelli who in just six varsity games as an Eagles, has put his name in the record books. Costelli now joins KJ Costello and Carson Palmer as the only Eagles to ever surpass the 400-yard barrier (416, vs. Orem) and just threw his second consecutive four-touchdown game, while totaling 16 touchdown passes on the season. Costelli finished his night against the Lancers completing 17 of 26 passes for 294 yards and four touchdowns. Against the Lancers, it was Kareem Amer who despite only catching two passes, hauled in 119 yards which made for a 59.5 yards. That 59.5 yards-per-catch average set a new school record, by the slimmest of margins. Amer edged-out Grant Calcaterra by one yard. Calcaterra had two catches for 117 yards (58.5) versus JSerra in 2015. Junior Chase Nenad finished the night with seven catches for 75 yards and a score; Jake Ebach had four for 54 yards and a score, and sophomore Gary Morrison had four for 46 and a touchdown. Behind a stout offensive line, it was junior Nick Barcelos who stole the show in the absence of Jake Thomas. Barcelos was a beast, carrying the ball 25 times for 149 bruising yards and making defenders pay all night.
Defensively, it was tackle by committee, as three Eagle defenders finished the night with 9 tackles (Blake Bianchini, Connor Burke, and Martin Hartigan), while Logan Schwenke continued his impressive junior campaign by adding another sack, making it 5.5 on the season.
| Orange Lutheran | 14 | 7 | 0 | 18 | 39 |
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 37 |
OLU – Hawkins 72 pass from Hilinski (Loya kick)
SM – Amer 82 pass from Costelli (Boccuzzi kick)
OLU – Loya 7 pass from Hilinski (Loya kick)
SM – Nenad 2 pass from Costelli (Boccuzzi kick)
OLU – Hilinkski 9 run (Loya kick)
SM – Morrison 19 pass from Costelli (Boccuzzi kick failed)
SM – Costelli 7 run (Boccuzzi kick)
OLU – Hawkins 7 pass from Hilinksi (Loya kick)
SM – Boccuzzi 32 FG
OLU – Mojarro 22 pass from Hilinski (Hawkins pass from Hilinski)
SM – Ebach 33 pass from Costelli (Boccuzzi kick)
OLU – Loya 27 FG
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: OLU - Hill 16-70; SM - Barcelos 25-149
Passing: OLU - Hilinski 31-46-1-358; SM - Costelli 17-26-0-294
Receiving: OLU - Hawkins 12-156, Loya 12-139; SM - Amer 2-119, Nenad 7-75
Sean Zeitler
Sports Information Director
Emotional Orange Lutheran football edges Santa Margarita with last-second field goal
COSTA MESA – Orange Lutheran viewed its Trinity League opener Friday as a “gut check.” Santa Margarita saw it as a chance for growth.
Only one team left Orange Coast College with its aspirations secured.
Logan Loya kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired as an injured-plagued and emotional Orange Lutheran defeated Santa Margarita 39-37 in a thrilling, back-and-forth game.
Fourth-ranked Orange Lutheran (4-2, 1-0) and quarterback Ryan Hilinski drove from their 30-yard line in the final two minutes for the dramatic victory in the same week that it lost star wide receiver Kyle Ford for the season with a knee injury.
The Lancers also played without standout Reggie Strong (neck) and held a moment of silence before the game former Lancers and TCU player Phil Taylor, who recently died from cancer.
If that wasn’t enough of a challenge, the homecoming game came down to a field goal, the same scenario the Lancers missed in the final seconds last week in a loss against Mission Viejo.
“It’s a gut check,” Orange Lutheran coach JP Presley said before the game. “Come in with everything stacked against us. There are so many great lessons that come out of it this. … You get over this, we’re going to continue to battle. Anything easy ain’t worth a lick.”
Sixth-ranked Santa Margarita (2-4, 0-1) aimed for a strong finish after some narrow losses earlier in the season. The Eagles took a 37-36 lead on a 33-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Peter Costelli to Jake Ebach with 1:57 left.
Costelli dueled Hilinski all night by passing for 297 yards and four TDs. The South Carolina-bound Hilinski threw for 358 yards and four TDs, with Loya and JoJo Hawkins filling the void created by Ford’s absence.
The Lancers scored 18 points in the fourth that featured five lead changes, including four in the final 6:14. There were three lead changes in the final 3:22.
“It ain’t over until it’s over,” Hilinski said afterward. “When they go down and score that touchdown and we had 1:50 left to go down and score, we did it.”
Santa Margarita took its first lead at 27-21 on a 7-yard touchdown run by Costelli with 2:38 left in the third quarter. The Eagles capitalized on a fumble recovery by Connor Burke on the Orange Lutheran 23.
But Hilinski quickly shook off the turnover to help ignite a wild fourth quartrer. He drove 80 yards for his 7-yard touchdown pass to Hawkins. The connection and extra point with 10:17 left in the fourth gave Orange Lutheran a 28-27 lead.
But Santa Margarita regained the lead, 30-28, about four minutes later by driving for a 32-yard field goal by Giacomo Boccuzzi with 6:14 left.
Orange Lutheran reclaimed the lead 36-30 on Hilinski’s 22-yard touchdown strike to tight end Elijah Mojarro with 3:22 left. Hilinski took a knee after the play and left the field but backup Brayden Zermeno tossed the 2-point conversion to Hawkins, a play that loomed as the duel raged.
Santa Margarita responded yet again as the Eagles took advantage of a short kickoff and good field position to reclaim the lead. Costelli threw a 33-yard TD to Ebach over the middle with 1:57 left as the Eagles took the lead, 37-36.
There was plenty of back-and-forth scoring in the first half, too.
Orange Lutheran struck first on a 72-yard catch and mostly run from Hawkins on a quick out pass from Hilinski with 4:12 left in the first quarter.
Santa Margarita responded with its own big play, an 82-yard touchdown reception from Kareem Amer from Costelli. Amer made a defender miss near midfield and like Hawkins, raced into open field.
The quarterback duel was on.
Hilinski capped a 68-yard drive with a 7-yard TD pass to a leaping Loya in the corner of the end zone with 39 seconds left in the opening period as the Lancers took a 14-7 lead.
Santa Margarita didn’t budge and tied the score at 14. Backup running back Nick Barcelos — who took over for standout Jake Thomas early in the game – sparked the ensuing drive that Costelli capped with a 2-yard TD pass to Chase Nenad midway through the second.
Hilinski gave Orange Lutheran the lead back on his next possession, punctuating an 87-yard drive with a 9-yard TD run to make it 21-20. Hilinski kept the drive alive with a 14-yard completion on fourth down to Loya.
But the Eagles answered back again as Costelli threw his third touchdown of the half, a 19-yarder to Gary Morrison with 46 seconds left. The extra point bounced off the left upright and Orange Lutheran took a 21-20 into intermission.
Barcelos finished with a season-high 148 yards on 25 carries. He was a big reason why the Eagles finished with 467 yards offense.
Orange Lutheran tallied 465 yards offense (107 on the ground) but had one major advantage: it had the ball last.
Hilinski leaned on Loya on the final drive by connecting on short slants over the middle. Loya and Hawkins each finished with 12 receptions. Hawkins had 155 yards receiving while Loya had 138.
Next week, Orange Lutheran plays at St. John Bosco while Santa Margarita against Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium.
By Dan Albano
Friday, September 28, 2018
The Orange County Register
