Eagles 2 - Saints 0
SAN DIEGO, CA., September 2, 2022 – Early last Monday afternoon, Santa Margarita Catholic’s opponent, St. Augustine (San Diego), announced that games scheduled for all levels were cancelled. According to Saint’s Athletic Director Matt Linville, this was due to the limited number of players available. The program experienced a number of injuries at the varsity and junior varsity levels and didn’t have enough substitutes to fill the void -- just over three dozen. St. Augustine last played on August 26. A quote from new Coach Rod Gladnick after that game indicated the Saints started 17 freshmen and sophomores. The school has 53 players listed on their MaxPreps.com “varsity” roster. Thirty-one of those are identified as being from the freshman or sophomore class with a handful not listed with any classification. It is no secret that the Saint’s program is in transition and requiring to reload with personnel -- many of last season’s players transferred out. The game goes down in the books as a 2-0 forfeit win for the Eagles.
For SMCHS, a Senior Night game against Mullen of Denver is next up at Saddleback College. Six days later, their final nonleague contest will be the toughest to that point -- versus No. 11 Los Alamitos at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. The traditional week off in between nonleague and Trinity League follows, but the school is actively looking to possibly schedule another game to fill the cancellation.
The Eagles have enjoyed stout and spirited play on both sides of the ball in their two games. Junior transfer Emmett Mosley, returning junior starter LeVar Talley and freshman newcomer Trent Mosley are just few of the many who have made an impact thus far. In addition, the underclass trifecta rotation at running back of Lee Fuimaono, Skylar Lendsey and Taurian Nash has been effective, although Jake Foye has been missed. Seniors Jaxon Potter and Niko Lopez have continued their successful QB-WR connection. Jacob Bower, Donovan Comestro, Ben Durham and Blake Wilson have struck the opposition hard. Jalani Liva and Simeon Maiava have toiled tirelessly in the trenches. Collins Acheampong has been a monster on the defensive line.
Summary by Chuck Nan
Statistics by Shane Mielke
