Eagles need fantastic finish to pull off victory

CARSON - Santa Margarita survived some nervous moments in Friday’s CIF State Division 1 bowl game against Bellarmine of San Jose, but none bigger than the final drive.

Trailing by one point, quarterback Johnny Stanton engineered an eight-play, 80-yard march, ending with his 1-yard touchdown dive on fourth down with 16 seconds left, for a 42-37 victory that kicked off a massive celebration for the Eagles.

However, it wasn’t as easy as it might sound.

The Eagles trailed by nine points early in the fourth quarter, and they were fortunate that it wasn’t more.

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OCVarsity Hot Shots: State title action, fans

OCVarsity's coverage of Division 1 bowl game

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Bellarmine had the ball inside the Eagles 20-yard line late in first half, but couldn’t score any points.

The Bells had first-and-goal at the 2 on their first possession of the third quarter but were forced to settle for a field goal.

Bellarmine also failed to connect on a wide-open halfback pass that should have gone for a touchdown.

“It was a battle all night long,” Santa Margarita senior linebacker Matt Anderson said.

“We were not going to lose this game. We were going to do whatever it took.”

The momentum started to swing thanks to Anderson, who intercepted a Travis McHugh pass after defensive lineman Mack Pierson forced McHugh out of the pocket.

“Right place, right time,” Anderson said.

Anderson returned the ball to the Bells 1, setting the stage for a Stanton touchdown run.

“We fought hard and got it done,” Anderson said.

“This feels amazing. I knew we would going to pull it together and minimize our mistakes and pull it off and we did.”

After Anderson's interception and Stanton's TD, Bellarmine responded with a touchdown drive of its own to take a 37-36 lead with 1:46 left, setting the stage for Stanton’s winning touchdown.

Bellarmine took possession at midfield after a squib kick and Pierson sealed the victory by sacking McHugh as time expired.

Stanton accounted for six touchdowns (four passing and two rushing) for the Eagles.

“He stepped up real big when we needed him,” Anderson said. “He was unbelievable.”

In the Division IV game:

Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth 34, Le Grand 13: The Trailblazers, the CIF-SS East Valley Division champion, scored 27 consecutive points in the victory.

Xavier Menifield rushed for 129 yards and three touchdowns for Sierra Canyon (15-0).