Santa Margarita breezes past JSerra
MISSION VIEJO - >With two final Trinity League showdowns looming on the horizon, it would have been easy for No. 4 Santa Margarita to overlook Friday’s game with last-place JSerra.
A spectacular individual effort from junior running back Ryan Wolpin emphatically dismissed that notion and helped the Eagles stay on track.
Wolpin rushed for 169 yards and scored four touchdowns as No. 4 Santa Margarita defeated JSerra, 42-14, in Trinity League action Friday night at Saddleback College.
“No matter what their record was, we knew they were going to play hard,” said Wolpin. “The offensive line has blocked well for me this whole season, and we just have to keep it going.”
Santa Margarita (7-1; 2-1) accumulated 350 rushing yards and is 7-0 when scoring 30 or more points this season. They will face St. John Bosco next Friday night before finishing up Trinity League play against top-ranked Servite on Nov. 11.
“We came out focused and ready to play tonight,” said Eagles coach Harry Welch. “Ryan (Wolpin) ran harder and tougher than he has of late and really stepped up for us. We are fully aware that we have to play two of the better teams in California, and we’re going to do our best to play as well as we can.”
The Eagles wasted little time taking control. On their first possession, they needed only four plays to go 66 yards as Wolpin sprinted 26 yards to make it 7-0.
Santa Margarita made it 14-0 less than three minutes later, as quarterback Johnny Stanton hit Sean Modster with an 81-yard scoring pass.
Stanton finished with 166 yards passing and rushed for another 85.
JSerra slipped to 3-5, 0-3.
Later in the quarter, Wolpin capped a 9-play, 76-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles a 21-0 advantage.
Wolpin then closed out the first half scoring less than five minutes into the second quarter, as he took a delayed handoff and powered up the middle for a 10-yard touchdown run to give Santa Margarita a 28-0 lead they would take into halftime.
Santa Margarita went up 35-0 just past the midway point of the third quarter, as sophomore running back Alex Suchesk found an opening and went 54 yards for a touchdown. He would finish the game with 96 yards on only six carries.
JSerra (3-5; 0-3) managed to get on the scoreboard late in the quarter, as senior quarterback Jake Hall hit senior wide Jonavaughn Williams on a four-yard touchdown.
Hall completed 12 of 23 passes for 161 yards, while Williams finished with seven catches for 102 yards.
Wolpin finished off his night by finding the end zone from seven yards out early in the fourth quarter.
JSerra then scored the final touchdown of the game with 3:02 remaining, as sophomore running back Casey Eugenio scored on a four-yard run. He finished with 71 yards on 16 carries.
