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LAS VEGAS – Santa Margarita coach Rick Curtis knew his team would have to play a perfect game to win at Bishop Gorman, which is ranked second in the country by USA Today.

And in the first quarter, his Eagles played as perfect as he could have hoped.

But when Gaels cornerback Jabari Butler stripped Santa Margarita’s Kyle Sweet at the goal line after a 36-yard reception and recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback, it was a sign the Eagles were in for a long night.

On the next play, Gorman’s Tate Martell scrambled 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage before connecting with Tyjon Lindsey for an 80-yard touchdown, and the Gaels went on to win, 41-10.

After the Eagles tied the score just before the end of the first quarter, Martell and Lindsey hooked up at the start of the second for a second touchdown, this time for 48 yards.

Gorman stopped the Eagles on their next drive, an 11-play effort that stalled at the Gaels 39-yard line, and three plays later Gorman was back in the end zone when Martell connected with Cordell Broadus on a 27-yard strike with 6:51 left in the first half, putting the Gaels up, 20-7.

“When you have two times that you get down there and you don’t score, especially when you’re at the goal line, it does have an effect on the game, cause they scored right off the bat,” Curtis said. “They hit us with some stunts, and we missed a couple of them and that put us behind the eight ball.

“That was a 14-point swing right there, and that really kind of put the nail in the coffin for us.”

Other than a late interception by Gorman’s Nico Fertitta, Santa Margarita’s highly acclaimed quarterback KJ Costello played well, completing 24 of 43 passes for 311 yards.

“I’m a KJ fan, so I don’t know what the stats are, I haven’t looked at the film, but he plays hard, he plays with emotion and passion every night,” Curtis said. “We just didn’t hit the big play and their secondary played well.”

The Eagles outgained Gorman in the first half 267 yards to 224, while they had twice as many plays than the Gaels in the game, 76-38.

“We made some mistakes and they hit some big plays on us,” Curtis added. “They’re a big play team, so, we have some work to do.”