MISSION VIEJO – It’s not often that a head coach is able to tell what his team’s mental capacity is after one game.
Fortunately for new Santa Margarita coach Rick Curtis, he was afforded that very opportunity.
With his defense backed in its own territory in the waning moments of Friday night’s game against Bishop Amat of La Puente, the Eagles were able to come up with two crucial third and fourth down stops resulting in a hard fought 26-21 victory over the Lancers at Saddleback College in front of a capacity crowd.
“It was an exciting win and a great way to start off the season,” Curtis said following the game. “The defense played great in the first half, and when we needed to make a couple plays at the end of the game, we did that.”
The Eagles led throughout the first three quarters thanks in large parts to a stellar defensive showing. Santa Margarita blanked Bishop Amat in the opening 24 minutes and held the Lancers to 99 total yards.
Offensively the Eagles were able to compile 242 yards in the opening half, but that amounted in only one score, putting the Eagles ahead 7-0 at the break.
The teams swapped touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters, ultimately seeing Bishop Amat take a 21-20 lead with 7:30 left in the fourth because of a missed Eagles point after attempt.
Trailing for the first time of the game, KJ Costello guided the offense on a 7-play, 62-yard drive with 4:49 remaining. Matt Mark scored his second touhdown of the game, plunging in from 1-yard out, putting Santa Margarita ahead 26-21.
Costello went 4-for-4 on the drive, and ultimately broke the school record for completions in a game (27) in the process. He finished the night 27 for 43 for 308 yards. The Eagles offense ran 84 plays total for a total of 476 yards.
Bishop Amat retained possession of the ball two times after the Santa Margarita go-ahead touchdown. The first drive resulted in quarterback Damian Garcia’s third interception of the night. And their final drive found them eight yards short of the end zone for what would have been the game’s decisive touchdown.
Garcia threw incomplete passes on both third and fourth-2 from the 8-yard line, resulting in the Eagles victory.
“I thought they were going to run the ball there at the end,” Curtis said. “They had a timeout and had been moving the ball well on the ground. But we came up with a couple big stops and were able to come away with the victory.
“Amat is a great program. We knew we weren’t going to run away from them, and they fought back and gave us a great battle.”
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
