MISSION VIEJO – Santa Margarita’s coach said it might take a couple of weeks for the Eagles to master the new offense.
Or it might not.
Santa Margarita rolled to a 56-27 win over Santiago of Corona in a nonleague game Friday night at Trabuco Hills High.
The Eagles set a school single-game record for offensive yardage, piling up 618 yards. The previous record was 538 yards set in Santa Margarita’s 55-42 win over Tustin in a CIF championship game in 1997.
Santa Margarita junior quarterback KJ Costello passed for 408 yards and four touchdowns in the new spread and no-huddle system that replaced an option-oriented attack the Eagles used under former coach Harry Welch.
It was Costello’s second career 400-yard passing game; he threw for 446 yards against Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas.
Kyle Sweet had nine receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown, and he kicked five extra points. Conner Bianchini had six receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Dre Hall rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown and Matt Mark ran for three touchdowns for the Eagles.
Santiago quarterback Blake Barnett will have better nights this season. Barnett, a senior committed to Alabama, was 17 for 34 for 156 yards and one touchdown. Last week, he threw for more than 300 yards and was 18 for 30 in a win over Redlands.
Santa Margarita, which collected 28 first downs, is ranked No. 3 in Orange County. Neither the Eagles (2-0) nor the Sharks (1-1) are in the CIF-Southern Section Pac-5 Division top 10.
Keeping Barnett under control was a point of emphasis for the Eagles.
“We have to contain their quarterback,” Santa Margarita coach Rick Curtis, in his first season coaching the Eagles after many seasons at Northwood, said before the game. They did.
Santa Margarita’s defensive front pressured Barnett consistently. The surge was led by Stash Rowley, Ryan Morris and Rick Wade.
Costello, a strong-armed 6-foot-5 and 210-pounds, had 329 passing yards and four touchdown passes in the first half as the Eagles had a 35-13 lead at halftime.
The Eagles scored on their first possession. Costello fired the ball to Sweet who was open at the Santiago 35. Sweet hauled it in there on the run and raced in to make it 7-0.
Costello connected with Jerome Bohuslavizki on a 42-yard touchdown pass play to make it 14-0. Santiago cut its deficit in half on a 1-yard run by Mason Hale with 45 seconds left in the quarter.
A 24-yard touchdown pass from Costello to Conner Bianchini early in the second quarter made it 21-7. A 9-yard run by Hale cut it to 21-13.
Bianchini’s second touchdown reception, the one covering 15 yards, made it 28-13. Matt Mark’s 2-yard touchdown run with 2:40 left in the half extended the Santa Margarita lead to 35-13.
The Eagles took the second half-opening kickoff and drove 80 yards on 14 plays with Hall scoring on a 1-yard run to make it 42-13.
Barnett connected with Brenden Bixler on a 33-yard touchdown pass play to cut the Sharks’ deficit to 42-20.
Mark scored on a 3-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter and it was 49-20.
Santiago got its final points on a 15-yard touchdown run by Hale. He finished with 129 yards to go over the century mark for the second time in as many games.
Mark’s third touchdown run, this one of 2 yards, halfway through the final quarter concluded the plentiful scoring.
Santa Margarita, a 26-21 winner over Bishop Amat of La Puente last week, plays host to Dorsey of Los Angeles next Friday at Saddleback College.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
