Football: Santa Margarita Hangs On, Beats Bosco For Playoff Berth

The Santa Margarita Catholic Eagles are playoff-bound.

It was a workmanlike victory Friday night at Saddleback College, a 28-20 handling of St. John Bosco in which the Eagles ran for 353 yards, outgained the quick-strike Braves by 241, and penciled their name in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division postseason by guaranteeing themselves at least a second-place Trinity League finish.

Santa Margarita (8-1 overall, 3-1 in league) and Servite (8-1, 4-0) will do battle for the league championship next Friday, Nov. 11, at Cerritos College.

"[The win] definitely means a lot; we knew this game was important," Santa Margarita junior tailback Ryan Wolpin said. "We knew [St. John Bosco] was going to be a really tough team to beat. We know they're athletic, they have tons of speed. It was difficult coming out here in the rain, but we pulled it together and came through with a win."

Wolpin's 30-yard, tackle-diffusing touchdown run with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter gave the Eagles their 28-20 margin of victory, and symbolized the type of hard-nosed effort Santa Margarita came up with on the biggest stage of the season so far.

After playing Servite to within a touchdown a week ago, St. John Bosco tallied a number of big plays Friday night to counter Santa Margarita's consistency on offense, which impressively churned out 500 yards all told.

Quarterback Johnny Stanton (23 carries, 176 yards) made it 7-0 with his first touchdown run, a 10-yard burst around the right side, at the end of the Eagles' six-play opening drive, and after Max Tuerk recovered a Rene Medina fumble in the shadow of Santa Margarita's goal post on the Braves' ensuing possession, the Eagles marched 83 yards and threatened to break it open.

But Bryce Treggs stepped in front of a Stanton pass at the St. John Bosco five and returned it 95 yards to the house, making it 7-6 after Chris Frost blocked the point-after try midway through the second quarter.

Santa Margarita turned the ball over twice, but both times responded with scores on offense, including one with 4:28 left in the second quarter, when Alex Suchesk took his only carry of the night 31 yards up the gut for a touchdown that made it 14-6 at half.

"This was huge," Santa Margarita coach Harry Welch said. "I'm sure it's one of the better football games Santa Margarita, I'm certain, has ever played against an incredibly quality opponent when it meant so much. This was a big night for both teams."

A wild third-quarter started with a four-yard Royce Moore touchdown after the senior tailback spelled starter DaVonte Young, who went down with a knee injury. Moore (8 carries, 118 yards) was electric from the second he touched the football, running for first downs of 16 and 14 to set up the Braves deep in Eagles territory.

After Stanton (9-of-19 passing, 147 yards) put Santa Margarita back up by eight with a 45-yard run on a designed drop-back keeper, Moore responded two plays later with a 66-yard Houdini-act touchdown sprint through traffic to make it 21-20 with 57 seconds left in the third quarter.

But Santa Margarita's defense was the difference in the fourth quarter, holding the Braves to a pair of punts before junior safety Connor O'Brien ended the contest with an interception of Medina at the two-minute mark.

Tuerk and Mack Pierson both came up with sacks for the Eagles, who held Medina to only 82 yards passing and St. John Bosco's offense to only 13 first downs, 10 fewer than Stanton and company accrued. Tuerk, Frank Dipietro, Sammy Gibbs and Matt Andersen all collected tackles-for-loss.

Wolpin, the engine in Welch's ground-and-pound offense, ran the ball 27 times for 146 yards, while Sean Modster led all receivers with five grabs for 105 yards.

"I thought [Wolpin] just kept coming back and back," Welch said. "He had a couple of plays that may have discouraged a lesser running back. But great running backs, they have a very poor short-term memory, they only think about what's next. And that run he made at the end, it was just outstanding."

Elsewhere around the league, Mater Dei fell to Servite, 35-28 at Angels Stadium Friday night, eliminating the Monarchs (3-6,1-3) from the playoffs, while on Thursday, JSerra (4-5, 1-3) upset Orange Lutheran (6-3,1-3), who the Braves (6-3, 2-2) host next Friday in Bellflower with the winner qualifying for the playoffs.

GAME STATISTICS

                                    1     2     3     4   --   T

St. John Bosco          0     6    14    0   --  20

Santa Margarita         7     7     7     7   --  28


                                  SJB                 SM

First Downs                13                  23
Rushing Yards           177                 353
Passing Yards            82                  147
Total Net Yards          259                 500
Turnovers                   2                      2
Penalties-Yards        5-40                 5-55


SCORING

1st Quarter

SM -- Johnny Stanton 10 run; John McGrory kick, 9:09

2nd Quarter

SJB -- Bryce Treggs 95 interception return; kick blocked, 7:01
SM -- Alez Suchesk 31 run; McGrory kick, 4:28

3rd Quarter

SJB -- Royce Moore 4 run; Reid Budrovich kick, 4:03
SM -- Stanton 45 run; McGrory kick, 1:33
SJB -- Moore 66 run; Budrovich kick, :57

4th Quarter

SM -- Wolpin 30 run; McGrory kick, 6:33