SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Oscar Gomez rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns as St. Margaret’s defeated crosstown rival Saddleback Valley Christian, 28-7, in an East Valley Division semifinal in front of a capacity crowd at San Juan Hills High on Friday night.
“It feels great,” Tartans coach Steve Barbee said. “It was a team win. We dominated all facets of the game.”
St. Margaret’s (13-0) advances to its second consecutive CIF-SS final. The Tartans were denied the title last year by Jurupa Hills.
St. Margaret’s will host the championship game after Grace Brethren of Simi Valley rallied to beat St. Anthony of Long Beach, 41-38, in the other semifinal. Game time is 7:30 p.m. next Saturday.
“I’m still hungry for that championship,” Gomez said. “It’s kind of bittersweet. There’s a couple starters that still know that feeling, so it’s going to be a really good game.”
The Tartans have rarely been tested this year. Last week’s two-point victory over St. Genevieve of Panorama City was their only game in which their opponent was within one possession at the end.
Entering Friday’s affair, Barbee said his team had learned to welcome adversity. A matchup with the undefeated San Joaquin League champs seemed to fit that mold.
Saddleback Valley Christian (12-1) had not been to the semifinals since 2007, and the Tartans threw some early punches to test the waters.
Nick Shanks opened the game with a 74-yard kickoff return, setting up St. Margaret’s at the Warriors’ 16. Two plays later, Gomez crossed the goal line for the game’s first score.
The quick strike stunned the Saddleback Valley Christian crowd. The Warriors had allowed just 15.2 points per game this season.
But on the Tartans’ second drive, Conner Giffin recovered a fumble to give the Warriors the ball at the St. Margaret’s 27.
Warriors quarterback Cade Henjum connected with Caleb Ward on a 21-yard pass on fourth-and-12 to set up a goal-to-go situation. Facing fourth down again, Henjum ran up the middle for a touchdown to tie the score.
Tartans quarterback George Krantz scrambled for a 6-yard touchdown to put St. Margaret’s back in front, 14-7.
St. Margaret’s then capitalized on an interception by Preston Ellis, with Krantz firing to Taylor Freitas in the right corner of the end zone to double the Tartans’ lead entering halftime.
The Tartans allowed just 42 passing yards in the second half as St. Margaret’s shut out the Warriors the rest of the way.
Warriors coach Brian Pearsall says his team has nothing to hang their heads about.
“I think once they settle in a bit, they’ll realize they won 12 games,” he said. “We had a great run.”
