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Sports

Stanton-Led Santa Margarita Shuts Down Orange Lutheran, 31-10

With the victory, Eagles take a big step toward staying alive for a possible playoff berth from the Trinity League this season.

Johnny Stanton got his groove back Friday night at Saddleback College, and by the end of an impressive 31-10 handling of Orange Lutheran, Santa Margarita's junior quarterback had his Eagles cohorts -- a couple thousand-plus jam-packed into Gaucho Stadium for homecoming -- dancing in their seats.

Coming off a frustrating showing against Mater Dei last Thursday, Stanton shouldered much of the blame, as an uncharacteristic bout of fumble-itis led to a stalled offense and the Eagles' first loss of the season.

Santa Margarita coach Harry Welch challenged his team, and Stanton in particular, to pick up the pace exponentially Friday night, and the Eagles responded.

Stanton connected on nine of his first 10 passes in the first half and led a six-play, 80-yard march to start the contest, a two-minute drive that featured a 41-yard scamper around the left side from Ryan Wolpin (17 carries, 102 yards), and ended with the junior tailback diving over the goal line from a yard out.

Sandwiching Wolpin's breakaway were a pair of plays that typified Stanton's effort. First was a pin-point accurate, 21-yard pass to Cory Mendoza, then, following Wolpin's jaunt, Stanton slipped his way through traffic for 16 yards, setting up the Eagles' at the Orange Lutheran two.

Stanton, who rushed for two scores and threw for another, finished with 267 total yards, including 160 through the air on 14-of-18 passing, and 107 on the ground.

"After last week, I felt like I had to [put the team on my shoulders]," Stanton said. "Coach Welch put it on my shoulders. But I had a lot of guys helping me. I had my line helping me. It wasn't all me."

After Josh Cornelius and John McGrory exchanged 20- and 21-yard field goals, respectively, the Lancers tied the score at 10 when Jabari Wilson ran in a score from five yards at the 5:18 mark of the second quarter.

Santa Margarita responded with an 11-play masterpiece of a march in which Stanton found his receivers for connections of seven, 11, 16 and 33 yards, the final completion going to Connor O'Brien over the middle on third-and-10.

O'Brien, who doubles as a hard-hitting defensive back, ran through a couple of tackles before ending up on the doorstep at the Lancers' eight, and two plays later, Stanton rewarded O'Brien with a five-yard touchdown pass that gave the Eagles' a 17-10 lead and left Orange Lutheran with only 34 seconds to respond before half.

"This was important. If we lost this game, we would've had to go through Servite, St. John Bosco and JSerra to get into the playoffs," Stanton said. "After last week, we all wanted to get back. We weren't going to let another team come into our home and kick us out."

RJ Mazolewski's pick highlighted a scoreless third quarter, but once Stanton got his hands on the ball to start the fourth, the Eagles' methodical offense went back on the attack.

Culiminating in a nine-yard run that ended with a dive over the goal line at the 4:48 mark, Stanton's second touchdown was the culmination of a 15-play, 85-yard drive in which the signal-caller ran for 51 yards, including four on a fourth-and-three at the Lancers' 16.

After an Orange Lutheran turnover on downs, Stanton delivered the proverbial cherry-on-top with his third score, a two-yard keeper on a belly option with a minute and a half remaining.

"I'm so very, very proud," Santa Margarita coach Harry Welch said. "I think Johnny Stanton is one of the finer quarterbacks in Southern California. Last week, a lot of people blamed him, and I thought the way he responded, boy, you could feel it on the sideline, he was a leader. He was the engine that pulled us through tonight."

Although the individual accolades fell on Stanton's shoulders, Santa Margarita's defensive line was once again the most impressive unit on the field Friday night.

Sean Donegan wreaked havoc from his spot at defensive end, coming up with a sack, a tackle-for-loss, a fumble recovery and an interception, while Mack Pierson racked up a sack, two tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble.

Orange Lutheran managed only 68 yards rushing, and although senior quarterback Connor Sullivan (15-of-21, 182 yards) connected on his first 12 passes and moved the ball at will through the air in the first half, the Eagles' forced three second-half turnovers and turned the Lancers away on fourth down twice.

"It's coaching, it's all coaching," Mack Pierson responded when asked why the Eagles defensive line is so good. "You're dealing with a lot of athletic kids like me, and [Chris] Frost, and Ian Dewart, and Brady McGuire and Sean Donegan, but, we owe it all to the coaching staff. Coach [Monterio] Witherspoon and Coach [Brian] Pearsall are two of the best coaches I've ever had. Our defensive line would be nothing without them."

Up next for the Eagles is a bit more home cooking, as JSerra travels to Saddleback College on Friday. Orange Lutheran (5-2 overall, 0-2 in league) will look for its first Trinity League win when it hosts Mater Dei (3-4, 1-1), also next Friday.


GAME STATISTICS



                                        1     2     3     4   --   T

Orange Lutheran             3     7     0     0   --  10

Santa Margarita              7    10    0    14   --  31


                                    OL               SM

First Downs                 14                18
Rushing Yards             68                209
Passing Yards             198              160
Total Net Yards           266              369
Turnovers                     3                  0
Penalties-Yards          4-41             5-56

SCORING

1st Quarter


SM -- Ryan Wolpin 1 run; John McGrory kick, 9:53
OL -- Josh Cornelius 20 field goal, 2:14

2nd Quarter

SM -- McGrory 21 field goal, 10:38
OL -- Jabari Wilson 5 run; Cornelius kick, 5:18
SM -- Connor O'Brien 5 pass from Johnny Stanton, McGrory kick, :34

4th Quarter

SM -- Stanton 9 run; McGrory kick, 4:48
SM -- Stanton 2 run; McGrory kick, 1:31

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