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Sports

Santa Margarita Runs Away With 'Rumble,' 39-7

Eagles turn the "Rumble at the Ranch, Part 2" into a rout of neighbor Tesoro on Friday night at Saddleback College.

How about that defense?

It was a question posed rhetorically from Santa Margarita Catholic coach Harry Welch to the media following the Eagles' 39-7 drubbing of crosstown rival Tesoro Friday night at Saddleback College, the site of "Rumble at the Ranch, Part 2," the second meeting between Rancho Santa Margarita's powerhouse football programs.

After a 56-0 Week 1 cakewalk over Long Beach Jordan in which the Eagles collected eight sacks and held the Panthers to negative yards rushing, the verdict was still out on Santa Margarita's defense. Were the Eagles that good, or was Jordan's offense that much off its game?

The answer came in definitive fashion under the lights of a cram-packed Gaucho Stadium, as Santa Margarita held a young but extremely talented Titans offense to 59 total yards.

Nate Tago rushed the ball nine times for eight yards, and quarterback Matt Adam carried the ball 15 times for six.

After collecting 4 1/2 sacks a week ago, right defensive end Chris Frost tacked on two more, and a tackle-for-loss, while left end Sean Donegan brought his season sack total to five, with 2 1/2 more Friday night.

Junior corner Connor O'Brien picked off his third pass of the season, and shifty junior wideout Sean Modster switched field on a 48-yard punt return for a touchdown that made it 29-7 just four minutes into the second half.

"Our coaches really prepared us well for this game," Donegan said. "It feels great, but it was a team effort. We worked on [having all 11 hats fly to the football] all summer long, plus, going up against our offense has just made us that much better. It's a blast right now."

Johnny Stanton, Santa Margarita's fleet-footed gunslinger, was brilliant in all facets, finishing with 57 yards rushing, including a seven-yard score, to complement an 11-of-17 passing night that netted 219 yards and two more touchdowns.

Stanton's favorite target was junior wideout River Cracraft, who caught five passes for completions of 18, 22, 23, and touchdowns of 16 and 34, the last of which came on a vertical route that split the coverage and made it 14-0 two minutes into the second quarter.

"We played playoff-level football tonight," Welch said. "We played much better than I had any right to expect this early. Johnny Stanton's a pretty special kid. If I were playing against him, I'd be worried."

Stanton had runs of 22 and 15, but Santa Margarita's most lethal running threat was junior tailback Ryan Wolpin.

Wolpin, who runs much bigger than his 5-foot-8, 172-pound frame, had two first-down runs of 18, one of 16, one more of 12 and three of 11. His biggest gain of the night, however, came through the air when Stanton found him all alone in the flat before he bobbed and weaved his way for 49 yards, setting up Stanton's plunge and a 21-0 advantage.

"For the 'Rumble at the Ranch,' we needed to play well," Welch said. "We were very, very disappointed that we gave the game away last year with five turnovers, and it was important to us to make a statement to at least play well. Not necessarily against Tesoro, but to play well, because we didn't play well, we didn't finish last year."

Tesoro's lone score came with six seconds left in the first half, when Tago dove across the goal line from a yard out on fourth down to bring the Titans to within two scores heading into the locker room.

Although little else went right Friday night, Tesoro (1-1) could lean its hat on a sprinkling of defensive highlights that included a Trevor Peralta interception and sacks each from Nick Nam and University of Washington-bound linebacker Blake Rodgers. The Titans also notched four tackles-for-loss and had passes defended by Tago and Nick Crouch.

"[Santa Margarita's] a great football team, and they flat-out came out and kicked our butts," Tesoro coach Brian Barnes said. "We gotta go back, regroup, and do a lot better. We have a tough road ahead of us. Our schedule is really tough this year. If we don't improve, it's going to be tough for us."

Next Friday, the Titans will finally enjoy some home cooking as they welcome Chino Hills for their home opener. The Eagles (2-0), meanwhile, will have a short week as they prepare for a road tilt Thursday at Trabuco Hills High.

GAME STATISTICS

                               1     2      3     4  --   T

Tesoro                     0     7      0     0  --   7

Santa Margarita      7    14     15    3  --  39


                              TES                SM

First Downs            7                     16
Rushing Yards        32                   171
Passing Yards         27                   241
Total Yards             59                   412
Turnovers                1                      2
Penalties-Yards      3-15                8-90


SCORING

1st Quarter

SM -- Ryan Wolpin 18 run; John McGrory kick, 4:57

2nd Quarter

SM -- River Cracraft 34 pass from Johnny Stanton; McGrory kick, 10:01
SM -- Stanton 7 run; McGrory kick, 3:47
TES -- Nate Tago 2 run; Zach Schottenfeld kick, 0:06.3

3rd Quarter

SM -- Cracraft 16 pass from Stanton; Wolpin conversion run, 8:04
SM -- Sean Modster 43 punt return; McGrory kick, 6:17

4th Quarter

SM -- McGrory 36 field goal, 10:30

Complete game story and photos to follow! Stay tuned!

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