After finishing the season as Orange County’s only unbeaten football team, St. Margaret’s was selected to continue its season in the CIF State Bowl Championships on Sunday.
The Tartans (14-0) will play in next weekend’s CIF State Division IV South matchup against Christian High of El Cajon.
St. Margaret’s beat Grace Brethren of Simi Valley (13-1) on Saturday in the East Valley Division championship game, 34-21.
The Tartans forced three turnovers as St. Margaret’s won its first CIF championship since 2009, when Harry Welch was the school’s head coach.
“We discussed it in our team meeting that we weren’t going to end our season getting a red medal (for second place),” Tartans coach Stephen Barbee said after Saturday’s triumph over Grace Brethren. “Everybody came through with what they had to do.”
The Tartans scored 17 consecutive points in the win over the Lancers.
Fernando Delgado and the defensive unit forced three turnovers in Saturday night’s finale, picking off Lancers’ quarterback Matthew Woodard three times in the fourth quarter.
St. Margaret’s scored 17 consecutive points in the fourth quarter Saturday, turning a 17-14 lead into a 34-14 Tartans advantage.
For the second consecutive week, St. Margaret’s will play an undefeated foe in El Cajon Christian.
The 13-0 Patriots won their San Diego Section Division 3 final against Hoover of San Diego, 31-9. Adrian Petty’s 77-yard return of a kickoff after a safety sparked the Patriots to the victory, extending the school’s winning streak to 20 games and creating an opportunity for more.
El Cajon Christian averages 48 points a game, while its defense holds opponents to under 13 points an outing.
After holding Grace Brethren’s 2,000-yard rusher, Zikel Reddick, to fewer than 100 yards Saturday, look for the Tartans defense to key in on Petty in El Cajon Christian’s run-happy offense.
Other top players for El Cajon Christian are quarterback David Todd Jeremiah, and wide receivers Nick Sexton, Trevor Howell and Chad Humphries.
The Tartans’ offense has weapons of its own in elusive wide receiver Nick Shanks and running back Oscar Gomes. They should get the bulk of the touches in the Tartans’ matchup against the Patriots on Friday at El Cajon.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
