MISSION VIEJO – Things were going well for KJ Costello and the third-ranked Santa Margarita football team.
Costello completed eight of his first nine passes, six to Dylan Crawford and the Eagles had a seven-point lead.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, that was apparently the wake-up call St. John Bosco needed.
The Braves closed the first half with three consecutive touchdowns and added five more in the second half to roll to a 62-14 victory over the Eagles on Friday night in a Trinity League opener at Saddleback College.
POSTGAME TALK: How St. John Bosco was able to dominate Santa Margarita
“This was not a good performance by us,” Santa Margarita coach Rick Curtis said. “We did not play well defensively and offensively we didn’t move the ball and keep the ball away from them. They’re a great football team, one of the top teams in the nation. We have to understand that.”
Any potential second-half comeback for the Eagles (4-2, 0-1) took a big blow late in the first half when Costello went down with an ankle injury. He limped off the field at halftime, but came back to start the second half.
However, with his mobility hindered, the St. John Bosco defense started bringing more and more pressure and getting to him. Costello was eventually replaced by Richard Wagner and was on crutches as the team walked off after the game.
Costello completed 15 of 24 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns. The other went to Noah Rasheed in the first quarter.
Curtis said he believes Costello could be ready to go when the Eagles face JSerra next week.
“He twisted his ankle and obviously he wasn’t the same,” Curtis said. “I think he’ll be OK. We have to get him some treatment, ice it, elevate it …he’s a warrior.”
The Braves (6-0, 1-0) relied on their big-play ability to strike fast and often in the second half. Quentin Davis completed 14 of 18 passes for 386 yards and four touchdowns. He had 11 completions of 15 yards or more and five of at least 30 yards.
Their speedy running back, Sean McGrew, rushed for “only” 113 yards.
“We told our kids they were going to come out in a flurry and we were going to have to overcome that and withstand it,” St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said.
After the early outburst from Crawford, the Braves limited him to just two receptions and the Santa Margarita running game never got on track.
“We didn’t run it effectively like we wanted to,” Curtis said. “That really put a damper on our game. We knew we had to run the ball to be effective and we didn’t do that as well.”
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
