Highlights, recap: Carson Palmer leads No. 5 Santa Margarita to dominant 47-13 win over De La Salle in California Open Division state championship game

No. 5 Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) won California's Open Division state championship Saturday, capping head coach Carson Palmer's first season with a 47-13 victory over No. 15 De La Salle (Concord).

The state title was the second in school history for the Eagles, who also won the Division I crown in 2011.

For the second straight game, USC-bound Trent Mosley was the difference maker. The senior scored three touchdowns — two receiving and one rushing — as Santa Margarita (11-3) raced to a 19-0 lead and eventual 35-7 halftime advantage. Mosley had 11 catches for 183 yards and two TD receptions while adding a seven-yard scoring run in the first half. Santa Margarita quarterback Trace Johnson, a Tulane commit, was 17 of 20 for 247 yards and four touchdowns.

Mosley's championship game heroics piggy-backed on a stellar Southern Section Division 1 final performance against Centennial (Corona, Calif.). In the 42-7 victory Nov. 28, Mosley showed out with with 299 yards receiving on 10 catches and four scores, two on the ground in addition to TD catches of 80 and 91 yards.

While Saturday's final was the first time in nearly a decade that neither St. John Bosco (Bellflower) or Mater Dei (Santa Ana) weren't involved, Santa Margarita made sure a Trinity League team grabbed the state's top prize for a ninth-straight season. De La Salle, high school football's most storied program, lost its eighth straight state title bid and fell to 8-10 all-time in CIF championship games. The Spartans (12-1) were playing in a record 12th Open Division final in the 17-year history of the current format.

And while the Santa Margarita offense was firing on all cylinders, the defense played complementary football. De La Salle was held to 70 yards of offense in the first half while the Eagles came up with three sacks, five tackles for a loss and a pick-six.

Both of De La Salle's scores — touchdown runs by Jaden Jefferson — came off Santa Margarita turnovers and a short field for the Spartans.

Mosley, who was injured for nearly half the season, finished the year with 828 yards and six TD catches.

Santa Margarita started the season with a 7-6 loss to Mission Viejo, but ended on a six-game win streak that included three three victories over MaxPreps Top 25 teams en route to the title. The Eagles beat five teams ranked in the MaxPreps Top 25 during the season, losing only to Mission Viejo, No. 4 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) and No. 19 St. John Bosco.