MISSION VIEJO – What a difference a week makes.
The second start of the season (third career) for Richard Wagner was everything he could have hoped for.
Santa Margarita’s senior quarterback threw for 392 yards and had four total touchdowns as the fifth-ranked Eagles routed Loyola of Los Angeles, 37-7, Friday in a nonleague game at Saddleback College.
Wagner was limited to 81 passing yards in a season-opening loss to No. 2 Mission Viejo. He made amends early against the Cubs (1-1).
Wagner completed his first 11 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns, all of which went to Grant Calcaterra.
Calcaterra reeled in 11 passes for 237 yards by halftime. He blew the top off of Loyola’s defensive secondary for an 82-yard strike to open the scoring. The 6-foot-4 receiver added scores of 10 and 52 yards for the Eagles (1-1).
He finished with 286 yards on 15 receptions.
The Oklahoma commit wasn’t quite ready to attach a name to the connection that he has with his quarterback.
“If we keep rolling, I think there will be a nickname in the future,” Calcaterra joked. “I think this is my all-time best.”
Trey Green had 104 rushing yards, and Chad Magyar added 93 to lead the Eagles’ ground attack.
Facing a big deficit, Loyola quarterback Sean O’Malley scored on a 36-yard scramble to make it 20-7 Eagles going into halftime.
David Chen, Malik McClain, Sean Toohey, and Caden Fitch recorded sacks for Santa Margarita’s defense.
The Eagles lost safety Matteo Spinosi and guard Luke Bobruk to anterior cruciate ligament injuries last week, but they did not want to make excuses.
“We just had to persevere,” Wagner said. “No one is going to have a perfect season without injuries.
“Guys stepped up today and throughout this week.”
