Eagles 38 - JSerra 13
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA., October 1, 2021 – The commencement of Trinity League season saw Santa Margarita Catholic make the short trip to San Juan Capistrano to take on rival JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano).The Eagles defeated the Lions 42-0 in the spring and were soaring high after their quality, upset win over No. 14 Los Alamitos. SMCHS came out sky high for this clash.
It was a party for the Eagle’s defense, at the Lion’s expense, as it forced five turnovers (including four interceptions) and recorded seven sacks in the 38-13 trouncing. Interceptions were collected by Israel Solomon, Romen Christiensen and Blake Wilson. Jacob Bower had another big game with an pick and two quarterback sacks. Highly touted recruit Hero Kanu had the best game of his prep career with 2 1/2 sacks, two tackles (both for loss), a blocked PAT and two quarterback hurries. Ryan Zolnick had one sack, as well.
Offensively, QB Jaxon Potter tossed a career-high 387 yards and three touchdowns. He also added one rushing score. This was the eighth-best passing yard effort in school history. Potter now has 1,971 yards passing and 17 touchdowns for the season. On the receiving end of the scores were Jalen Jones, Ian Grogan and Ty Benefield.
The Lions are 5-1 for the first time since 2015. In their five wins, they are a plus-117 in point differential (23.4 average) -- not scoring less than 31 in any of those victories. This is a short preparation week for a Thursday game versus Servite at Orange Coast College.
| Santa Margarita | 7 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 38 |
| JSerra | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
SM – Potter 1 run (Wilson kick)
SM – Benefield 10 pass from Potter (Wilson kick)
SM – Jones 29 pass from Potter (Wilson kick)
JS – Jornadal 6 pass from Singh (Andrioli kick)
SM – Grogan 37 pass from Potter (Wilson kick)
JS – Schultz 99 kickoff return (Andrioli kick blocked)
SM – Wilson 19 FG
SM – Christensen 34 interception return (Schuster kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: JS - Pua 6-27; SM - Foye 18-68, Nash 5-14
Passing: JS - Singh 13-21-4-108; SM - Potter 22-35-3-387
Receiving: JS - Jorndal 8- 88, Heimuli 3-44; SM - Gallegos 6-74, Lopez 4-74
Summary by Chuck Nan
Statistics by Shane Mielke
Santa Margarita dominates JSerra with defense
San Juan Capistrano – Santa Margarita’s defense forced five turnovers in a 38-13 win over JSerra on Friday night in both teams’ Trinity League opener at JSerra High.
Eagles quarterback Jaxon Potter threw for 389 yards and three touchdowns. He transferred to Santa Margarita (5-1, 1-0) in the summer from JSerra and was facing his former team.
He rushed for the game’s opening touchdown to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead. Early in the second quarter, he threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ty Benefield to extend the lead to 14.
At the end of the first half, Jacob Bower intercepted a JSerra pass and returned it to the Lions 29-yard line with 14 seconds remaining. On the final play of the half, Potter threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Jones to put the Eagles ahead 21-0.
Zander Singh threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Josh Jornadal to put JSerra on the scoreboard in the third quarter.
Potter responded with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Ian Grogan to put the Eagles in front 28-7.
On the ensuing kickoff, Edward Schultz returned the kick for a touchdown.
Romen Christensen returned an interception for a touchdown and Blake Wilson made a field goal to finish the scoring for Santa Margarita.
Wilson had an interception for the Eagles and so did Israel Solomon. Bower had an interception and two sacks.
Santa Margarita will play Servite at Orange Coast College on Thursday. JSerra (3-3, 0-1) will host St. John Bosco on Friday, Oct. 8.
By Michael Huntley
Saturday, October 2, 2021
The Orange County Register
