Football: JSerra 26, Santa Margarita 7

By Martin Henderson

While JSerra and Santa Margarita Catholic players shook hands at midfield, students from JSerra rushed the Saddleback College field, leaping in joyous giddiness like they had never experienced a victory like they did on Friday.

But they hadn’t ever experienced a victory like they did on Friday.

JSerra, needing a win to make a bid for a playoff berth in the Southern Section’s marquee Pac-5 Division, dominated Santa Margarita, 26-7.

It marked the first time JSerra had won seven games in a season.

It marked the first time it had won two games in the Trinity League.

It marked the first time it had positioned itself to be a playoff team.

With its most complete performance of the 10 games it has played, JSerra showed Friday it was a real-deal Trinity League team.

JSerra finished in a three-way tie for third place with Servite and Orange Lutheran. Based on coin flips, Servite enters the playoffs as the third place team, and OLu will be the designated fourth-place team, and JSerra the fifth-place team. Last week, JSerra defeated Servite, 48-43, giving it two impressive victories heading into the playoffs—if the Lions make it.

If they don't, they'll always have Friday to remember.

Score: JSerra 26, Santa Margarita Catholic 7

Key Stats: Nick Robinson completed 13 of 19 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown, and also ran eight times for 38 yards for JSerra. Dante Pettis returned an interception for a touchdown and caught three passes, including an 8-yarder for a 7-0 lead on the game’s first drive.

Pivotal Moment: Even holding a 17-0 lead, Santa Margarita—with all its weapons and buoyed by the thought of it possibly being Coach Harry Welch’s final game—figured to be building toward some type of offensive explosion. But when Casey Eugenio ran right into a bunch of would-be tacklers and bolted out from them to the left, then taking it 34 yards for a score and a 23-0 lead with 1:35 left in the first half, it was too much for Santa Margarita to contend with. It was a four-possession lead, and Santa Margarita had to do in the last 25 minutes what it couldn’t do in the first 23. Welch clearly thought as much: On his team’s next offensive series, he replaced K.J. Costello with Kyle Sweet as quarterback.

Quotable:  “They’ve come alive at the right time, played great last week—at least offensively—and our defense showed up tonight which made it a much more complete game,” JSerra coach Jim Hartigan said. “Being able to control their offense and put points on the board against a tough opponent, it’s a great win.”

Records: JSerra (7-3 overall, 2-3 in Trinity League), Santa Margarita (4-6, 1-4)

Notes: If Eugenio’s 34-yard burst was the pivotal moment, a close second was Dante Pettis’ 21-yard interception return for a touchdown on the first play of Santa Margarita’s second offensive possession.  It was exactly the kind of big play you can’t give up to JSerra, and it put the Eagles two touchdowns behind, 14-0. …  Sophomore quarterback K.J. Costello was one for 9 for minus-6 yards and the Pettis interception before being replaced by Sweet, who finished nine of 14 for 93 yards and an interception. … Jeremy McNichols rushed 12 times for 69 yards—two carries accounted for 58 of that total—and a 3-yard score with 2:54 remaining. … Although Pettis is the primary receiving threat, Isaiah Diego-Williams was fantastic; he caught six passes for 69 yards. … Eugenio rushed 17 times for 77 yards, including his 34-yard scoring run on his eighth carry. To that point, didn’t have a gain of more than 4 yards. … Since beating Mater Dei, Santa Margarita was outscored 80-21. … In its five nonleague games, Santa Margarita didn’t score fewer than 24 points. In its five league games, it didn’t score more than 16. …  

• Orange County Top 10 and Patch's Vote
• Last Week: JSerra 48, Servite 43
• Last Week: Orange Lutheran 54, Santa Margarita 14

Offensively, JSerra averaged more points (21.6) than Mater Dei (18) in league play. … This was Welch’s final game in a storied coaching career. In 25 seasons as a head coach, his record was 256-60-2, a winning percentage of .808. In four seasons at Santa Margarita, he was 35-14 (.714). … Hartigan’s record as coach at JSerra improved to 35-35 through seven seasons. He is 198-89-4 overall (.687) through 25 seasons, including stints at Santa Margarita (122-44-3, a .731 percentage) and Fresno Clovis West (41-10-1, .798). … Interestingly, Hartigan now has coaching victories over Welch and Concord De La Salle Coach Bob Ladouceur (who he has beaten twice). ... The Southern Section playoff committee will release the names of the at-large teams Saturday, 6 p.m., and the brackets late Sunday morning.