Eagles 14 - Mater Dei 7
MISSION VIEJO, CA., October 2, 2026 – The Santa Margarita Eagles opened Trinity League play at home with a bruising 14-7 win over the Mater Dei Monarchs before a crowd of over 5,000 at Saddleback College. The win was the Eagles' 12th in a row tying their second longest winning streak by matching the mark from the 1990 team, and improved their record to 6-0, 1-0 on the season. The Monarchs fell to 4-2, 0-1.
The Eagles took the opening kickoff and marched to the Monarch 37 on their opening possession before the drive stalled. The visitors went on a ten-play 80-yard drive capped by a six-yard scoring run by Asir Nembhard to make it 7-0 at the 3:28 mark. Santa Margarita responded by getting to the Monarch 39 highlighted by a 30-yard completion from Fletch Palmer to junior tight end Sacha Guerdat; however, Mater Dei stuffed a third down screen pass forcing another Eagle punt. After trading punts, Santa Margarita forced another three-and-out and taking over at their 42 with 6:50 left in the half Palmer (13 of 20 for 155 yards) hit junior wide receiver Grant Mosley who making his season debut for 13 yards and then found Grant Van Raaphorst for 34 more bringing the ball to the Monarch 11. Four play later sophomore sensation Adrian Petero hit paydirt from a yard out to tie the score at seven with 3:38 left in the half. Behind the passing and clock management of freshman Paytyn Guess (16 of 22 for 165 yards), Mater Dei reached the Eagle 24 where Jerry Shifman lined up for a 41-yard field goal with 0:04 on the clock. Junior DB and kick blocking specialist Jake Martin, who collected 12 tackled on the night, came through and blocked the kick sending both teams to the locker room tied at seven apiece.
The Eagles forced a three-and-out on the Monarchs opening possession of the second half led by a collaborative sack from senior linebacker Cruz Nuñez (nine tackles) and freshman edge player Kalib ("KJ") Herndon who finished with eight tackles. Freshman safety Jayden Jack returned the punt nine yards setting Santa Margarita up at the Monarch 43. Palmer hit freshman wide receiver Kiyan Callis twice for 20 yards, Van Raaphorst took a reverse for 20 more and he capped the drive with a four-yard receiving touchdown from Palmer to increase the Eagle lead to 14-7 and close out the scoring with 7:45 left in the third quarter.
Mater Dei would not go quietly as Guess used his arm and legs to put together a 13-play drive, but it resulted in no points as sophomore defensive end Kingston Jimmerson recorded three tackles including a key sack, freshman linebacker Aydan Steen (eight tackles on the night) collected three tackles and junior defensive back Jagger Apt recorded a crucial third down sack on the drive to set up Shifman's 32-yard field goal was wide right with 11:28 remaining in the game. After forcing an Eagle punt, the Monarchs were stopped on downs highlighted by the second of senior cornerback Ca'ron Williams' who used corner blitzes to post his first two career sacks. On the night the Eagles recorded eight sacks - one off the school record of nine set in their week zero win over Orlando Jones.
Taking over on his own 15 with 1:53 left and one timeout, and aided by 30 yards of penalties on consecutive plays - a facemask and pass interference call, Guess found Gavin Honore for 38 yards to bring the ball to the Eagle 15 with 26 seconds remaining. Another sack by Jimmerson on first down forced a Monarch time out. On second down Guess threw a seam pass into triple coverage where Jack recorded his third interception of the season with 12 seconds on the cloct and returned it 39 yards to seal the emotional win.
Petero led the Eagle ground game with 12 carries for 52 yards and Callis finished with a team leading four receptions for 35 yards, while Mosley hauled in three for 38 yards.
The win marked the sixth time the Eagles began a season 6-0 and the first since 2012. The win held some additional significance as it was the first time the Eagles defeated the Monarchs in consecutive seasons since they won three in a row from 2000-02.
The Servite Friars (3-3, 0-1) come to Saddleback College next Friday, October 9th, for Santa Margarita's Homecoming. The Friars are the Eagles most common opponent as they've played 32 prior times with Servite holding an 18-13-1 edge in a series that dates back to 1991. Kickoff is set for 7 pm.
| Santa Margarita | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Mater Dei | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
SM – Nembhard 6 run (Shifman kick)
SM – Petero 1 run (Koga kick)
SM – Van Raaphorst 16 pass from F. Palmer (Koga kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Petero 11-44; MD - Nembhard 11-47, Allen 7-45;
Passing: SM - F. Palmer 13-20-0-155; MD - Guess 16-22-1-165;
Receiving: SM - Callis 4-35, Mosley 3-38, Van Raaphorst 2-38; MD - Brown 6-69, Grier 5-42;
Summary by Adrian Peters
Statistics by Shane Mielke
