Santa Margarita Lays It on the Line, Holds Off Los Alamitos, 38-27

There is simply no substitute for outstanding offensive line play.

In polishing off a perfect 5-0 nonleague record with an impressive 38-27 win over previously undefeated Los Alamitos Thursday night at Long Beach's Veterans Memorial Stadium, Santa Margarita Catholic's offense rolled over its fifth straight defense in broken-record fashion, following its massive offensive line to the goal line time and time again.

Racking up 17 first-half first downs and 25 total, as well as 359 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns, the Eagles manhandled Los Alamitos at the point of attack, dominating the time-of-possession battle -- Santa Margarita ran 28 more plays than the Griffins (78-50) -- and relegating tailback Cody Paul and Los Alamitos' electric offense on the sideline for theh majority of the evening.

"We were just out-manned," Los Alamitos coach John Barnes said. "Nobody will be this physical on us again."

Paul, who ignited the blockbuster meeting between Orange County football behemoths on the game's second play, a 72-yard dash around the right edge for an early 7-0 lead, carried the ball only six more times in the first half, and three of those went for zero, negative two, and negative four yards.

Meanwhile, the Eagles' offense, as led by junior quarterback Johnny Stanton (26 carries, 150 yards), was the very picture of consistency, answering Paul's opening salvo with a Ryan Wolpin 14-yard first-down run that set in motion a three-minute drive culminating in a Stanton four-yard keeper off belly option.

"[Stanton] is huge, he has a huge arm, and he's really mobile," Santa Margarita left tackle Max Tuerk said. "He can run over people and he can beat them with his speed. He's a stud."

It took the Griffins all of 31 seconds to respond to Stanton's score, as Dylan Lagarde connected with wideout Josh Caiquo on a seam route that the senior turned into a 61-yard touchdown after breaking a tackle.

Lagarde finished the night with 158 yards through the air on 12-of-28 passing, including a seven-yard score to Kyle Roberts with three minutes left in the fourth quarter that made it 38-27, but the Griffins couldn't recover the ensuing pooch kick attempt, and their late threat fizzled.

"If we had played a little better offense in the second quarter -- we had a couple of plays wide open for touchdowns, once we dropped the snap, once we missed him -- the game would have gone to the wire," Barnes said. "We played hard, we didn't quit. [Santa Margarita's] a physical bunch, but we learned a lot tonight."

While the Eagles were able to stiffen on defense after two long Los Alamitos scores in the first, the Griffins' defense had no answer for Tuerk and company, as Wolpin and Stanton found gaping holes with regularity and danced through them to pick up yardage in chunks.

"I'm calling the plays and I'm peaking out of the corner of my eye and Max Tuerk was taking his man sometimes five, six, seven yards downfield," Santa Margarita coach Harry Welch said. "I mean, scary."

Wolpin's five-yard touchdown plunge was the result of a five-minute drive that made it 14-14 with three minutes left in the first quarter. After the Griffins' first three-and-out of the night, Stanton broke through to the second level on a designed drop-back keeper, then turned on the burners and beat the secondary to paydirt for a 52-yard score.

"How about a young Johnny Stanton, and if he gets a whole lot better?" Welch asked. "He can throw, and if you ignore him in the run, you're going to be sorry."

Stanton (10-of-15 passing, 131 yards) notched his third rushing touchdown of the first half when he ran it in from four yards out with 12 seconds remaining to give the Eagles a two-score advantage at 28-14 heading into the locker room.

Los Alamitos (4-1) capitalized on a Stanton fumble with three minutes left in the fourth, setting up Roberts' touchdown just seconds after Paul had made it 38-20 with his second rushing touchdown, this one from seven yards. Paul finished the night with 134 yards in 17 carries, and Roberts caught five passes for 56 yards.

Wolpin made it 38-14 -- after a 26-yard John McGrory field goal -- with a one-yard plunge early in the fourth. Santa Margarita's junior tailback finished the night with 196 yards in 34 carries, 18 in the first half, 16 in the second, and had first-down runs of 14 yards twice, nine twice, eight twice, 10, 15, and 17.

"We had goals this week on the offensive line," Tuerk said. "My goal was to finish blocks, and I felt I was able to do that. Ryan Wolpin was a stud tonight. He played a great a game. Erik Bunte, Riley Sorenson and Dane Crane, they all had great nights."

McGrory had a banner evening as well, breaking the Orange County and CIF Southern Section all-time record for consecutive successful extra-point attempts, connecting on the record-setting kick, his 82nd straight, after the Eagles' first touchdown drive.

Up next for the Eagles, who are currently ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division coaches' poll, is a bye week in preparation of an Oct. 13 meeting with Mater Dei, the Trinity League opener to be held at Santa Ana College.

Los Alamitos also has a huge league opener following a bye week, as the Griffins kick off Sunset League play Oct. 13 at Huntington Beach High against fellow league favorite Edison.

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It's all over at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach, where visiting Santa Margarita, the No. 3 team in the Pac-5 Division coaches' poll, defeated Los Alamitos, 38-27, in a nonleague football game Thursday night.

The Eagles (5-0) totally dominated the game's statistics, outgaining Los Alamitos (4-1) in total yardage, 512 to 283 and in first downs, 25 to 13, running 78 plays to the Griffins' 50.

Los Alamitos scored the last points of the game, making the final score a little more respectible, with less than four minutes left to play after recovering a fumble by Santa Margarita quarteback Johnny Stanton on the Eagles' seven-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Dylan Lagarde connected with wide receiver Kyle Roberts for a seven-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 38-27.

Moments earlier senior running back Cody Paul capped off 11-play, 74-yard drive with his second touchdown of the game, a seven-yard scamper to the right pylon, to trim the Eagles' lead to 38-20 with 4:44 left.

Santa Margarita junior running back Ryan Wolpin, who rushed for 196 yards in 34 carries, plunged in from the one with 8:50 left in the fourth quarter to give the Eagles a 38-14 lead.

Senior kicker John McGrory culminated Santa Margarita's first drive of the second half with a 27-yard field goal with less than five minutes left in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 31-14 lead.

Santa Margarita quarterback Johnny Stanton, who rushed for 150 yards in 26 carries, drove his team 88 yards in the final couple of minutes of the second quarter, carrying the ball in from three yards for his third touchdown. With the addition of McGrory's PAT, the Eagles held a 28-14 halftime lead.

In the first quarter, Stanton, who had 114 yards rushing on 15 carries in the first half, took a snap, took a step back, then many steps forward on his way to a 52-yard run right up the middle to give the Eagles a 21-14 lead with 57 seconds left in the quarter.

Stanton completed 10 of 15 passes for 131 yards in the first half, and Wolpin had 18 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown. Santa Margarita (4-0), ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division coachers' poll, had 332 yards of total offense and 17 first downs in the half, compared to No. 11 Los Alamitos' 183 yards and five touchdowns.

Paul had seven rushes for 97 yards and a touchdown in the first half for Los Alamitos. His Griffins teammate, quarterback Dylan Lagarde, had completed seven of 13 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.,

Earlier in the first quarter, Santa Margarita's Wolpin carried it in from five yards on the 11th play of the drive and McGrory's record-setting 82nd consecutive PAT gave the Eagles a 14-14 tie with 2:47 left to play in the first quarter.

Earlier, Los Alamitos' Lagarde connected with wide receiver Josh Caiquo for a 51-yard touchdown pass play, and the PAT gave the Griffins a 14-7 lead. Caiquo, a senior, has six catches on the season, with four of them going for touchdowns.

Earlier, Stanton carried it in from two yards and McGrory's extra-point kick helped Santa Margarita forge a 7-7 tie. McGrory's PAT was his 81st in a row, tying the Orange County and CIF Southern Section record.

On the second play from scrimmage, Paul broke two tackles in the backfield and raced down the right sideline for 72 yards, giving Los Alamitos a 7-0 lead.

The Griffins will take next week off in preparation to open Sunset League play against Edison, the team most likely to battle them for the league title, on Thursday, Oct. 13, at Huntington Beach High.

Santa Margarita will also not play again until Oct. 13, when it travels to Santa Ana Stadium to take on Mater Dei in the teams' Trinity League opener.

GAME STATISTICS

                              1     2     3     4   --   T

Santa Margarita      21    7     3     7   --   38 

Los Alamitos          14    0     0    13   --   27


                                 SM                LA

First Downs               25                13
Rushing Yards          359              124
Passing Yards           147              154
Total Net Yards         506               278
Turnovers                   1                  1
Penalties-Yards        6-65              5-25


SCORING


1st Quarter

LA --  Cody Paul 72 run; Brett Beighton kick, 11:41
SM -- Johnny Stanton 3 run; John McGrory kick, 8:29
LA -- Josh Caiquo 61 pass from Dylan Legarde; Beighton kick, 7:58
SM -- Ryan Wolpin 5 run; McGrory kick, 2:47
SM -- Stanton 52 run; McGrory kick, :57

2nd Quarter

SM -- Stanton 4 run; McGrory kick, :12

3rd Quarter

SM -- McGrory 26 field goal, 4:50

4th Quarter

SM -- Wolpin 1 run; McGrory kick, 8:50
LA -- Paul 7 run; kick failed, 4:44
LA -- Kyle Roberts 7 pass from Legarde, 3:51

Complete game story and photos to follow. Stay tuned!