MaxPreps 2012 Preseason Xcellent 25 Football preview: No. 4 Santa Margarita

Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) coach Harry Welch said being under the radar would be nice, but with 15 returning starters from a defending California Division I Bowl championship team – including one of the country’s best dual-threat quarterbacks - it’s not going to happen.

“Instead, we’ll embrace it all,” he said about his team’s No. 4 preseason national ranking.

Oh, and there’s so much to embrace, starting with senior quarterback Johnny Stanton, a 6-foot-2, 221-pound mass of muscle and excitement who accounted for 3,867 yards and 34 touchdowns in 2011.

An inexperienced receiving core and young team overall led to some so-so passing numbers early in the season, but when push came to the run, Stanton showed his big arm prowess in the state bowl title game, completing 14 of 25 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns in a wild 42-37 win over Bellarmine.



Stanton led the Eagles on a game-winning 80-yard drive in the final 1:46, capped off with a 1-yard sneak, his second of the game. He accounted for all six of his team’s touchdowns.

“I’d take (Stanton) over any guy in the country,” Welch said after the game. On Tuesday, Welch said: “He’s much better now than he was in the state championship game. He can throw with anyone in America.”

That comment was based on a six-hour, eight-team passing tournament on Saturday. According to Welch, Stanton fired 25 touchdowns, lost one interception and completed 70 percent of his passes. More numbers: he’s run a 4.49 40-yard dash and had vertical leap of 38 inches and a Sparq rating of 115.56, which is off the charts for a QB.

Stanton, who has offers from Cal, Washington and San Diego State, is just part of Santa Margarita’s juggernaut. The offense features nine returners, including three Division I linemen. The running game features 1,500-yard, 29-TD back Ryan Wolpin and fleet game-breaker incoming junior Alex Suchesk, and the receiving tandem of River Cracraft (offer from Washington State) and Sean Modster will inflate Stanton’s passing numbers.

Defensively, the Eagles return six, including active middle linebacker Sammy Gibbs and 6-5, 245-pound defensive end Nick Begg, who was just offered by San Diego State. The top defensive player and best athlete besides Stanton might be 6-3, 205-pound Connor O'Brien, who already has nine offers, mostly from the Pac-12. He’ll play receiver too.

Besides the addition of 6-5, 325-pound sophomore Will Sorenson, the most significant newcomers are on the coaching staff. Welch, who has won three state bowl titles at three different schools, brought in his former Canyon High and University of California quarterback Nate Longshore to help Stanton and Fresno State offensive coordinator Jeff Grady to help with the offense, as if the Eagles needed any.

Local look: "On most teams, building around a standout returning quarterback like Johnny Stanton means there should be instant success. But at Santa Margarita, not only is Stanton back, so are eight other offensive starters, and it's not embellishing to think the Eagles are capable of scoring every time they have possession of the football on offense. Three big, powerful offensive linemen - Riley Sorenson, Dane Crane and Erik Bunte - are also back to protect Stanton and running back Ryan Wolpin. At least seven players have been offered scholarships. If Santa Margarita can develop any kind of defense, it's going to be extremely difficult for an opponent to outscore the Eagles this season."
- Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times
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Enrollment: 1,550 (approx.)

2011 finish: 13-2

Head coach: Harry Welch

Career record: 244-51-2

Years at school: 2

Notable players coached:
RB JJ Di Luigi (BYU)

QB Nate Longshore (Cal, San Jose Sabercats)

OL Chuck Osborne (Arizona, NFL)

WR Logan Sweet (UCLA)

OL Max Tuerk (USC)
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No. of returning starters: 9 (offense), 6 (defense)

Key losses:
LB Matt Andersen

OL-DL Chris Frost



K-P John McGrory

OL-DL Mack Pierson

OL-DL Max Tuerk

Key returners:
DE Nick Begg

OL Erik Bunte

WR River Cracraft



LB Sammy Gibbs

WR Sean Modster

FS Connor O’Brien

DL Taylor Prenovost

OL Riley Sorenson

QB Johnny Stanton



RB Alex Suchesk

RB Ryan Wolpin

Key newcomers:
OLB Duncan Hume

OL/DL Ryan Kilander

OL Will Sorenson

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Toughest game: Up until last week, the toughest out-of-area game was undoubtedly the Aug. 24 tilt in Arizona against Brophy College Prep (Phoenix), but that game was canceled according to Welch by the Arizona Interscholastic Association. “It’s very disappointing,” Welch said. “We need another game.” That leaves a Sept. 21 home game with two-time state bowl champion and perennial state and sometime national power St. Bonaventure (Ventura, Calif.) as the Eagles’ toughest nonleague tilt.

Question mark: The defensive front seven lost the most to graduation, but with tackle-machine Gibbs and talented linemen Begg and Prenovost back, it’s not a big concern. Especially since the offense should pile up yards and numbers by the bundle.

Local outlook: The Trinity League is considered one of the top five in the United States and last year, both of the Eagles’ defeats came in league by a total of eight points. It will be a battle week-to-week but with Stanton’s leadership and the team’s offensive firepower, Santa Margarita should be able to avoid any upsets.

Overall outlook: It was a rough offseason for Welch, 67, who was placed on paid administrative leave on Jan. 20 while being investigated for allegedly shoving a player on Dec. 13. He was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by the Orange County District Attorney on Jan. 26 and then reinstated to coach by the school on Feb. 15. On top of that, the school let go of three assistants who were tied to drug possession charges. But Welch is no quitter. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the middle of the 2010 season and never missed a game. According to Patch.com, he has since been named the annual king for American Cancer Society’s Rancho Santa Margarita Relay for Life event. He and the Eagles want nothing more than to put the off-the-field issues long behind them and the best way to do that is to win and do so convincingly. They have the horses and staff to do it.



Coach quote: “We have great athletes and a fantastic group of assistants and support staff. I couldn’t be more excited to start a season.”
- Harry Welch
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