St. Margaret's loses on last-second field goal

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO - Coronado’s Robby Weissenfels booted a 29-yard field goal with no time remaining to give the Islanders a 16-13 victory over host St. Margaret’s on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.

“It was a great high school football game and the team that won deserved to win,” second-year St. Margaret’s coach Rod Baltau said.

Tartans sophomore quarterback Josh Davis led his team to a tying, 27-yard field goal, 13-13, with 30 seconds remaining in the game.

The St. Margaret’s defense held Coronado to give the Tartans a chance for the go-ahead score. Davis threw three consecutive incomplete passes before senior wide receiver Byron Manzo caught a 16-yard pass over the middle to set up the tying field goal.

The Islanders then drove the length of the field, aided by a questionable late-hit call against St. Margaret’s, and a 40-yard reception to senior wide receiver Hunter Corpus with three seconds remaining.

The Tartans drove the ball inside the 10-yard line three times in the first half, finally scoring on the third attempt – a 2-yard run by senior running back Kent Izuka.

On one of those three Tartan possessions, Coronado recovered a fumble on the St. Margaret’s 25-yard line and scored three plays later on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Austin Denson.

“They (Coronado defense) were aggressive, pinned their ears back and smacked us in the mouth. We didn’t do a good job adjusting to that,” Baltau said.

St. Margaret’s has a bye next week and will be host Orcas Island from Washington on Sept. 16.