Carson Palmer gets first victory as head coach as Eagles beat Huskies 33-27.
The Santa Margarita defense held on Centennial's first overtime possession on a big fourth-down play from
Leki Holani. The offense then capped the victory with an
Adrian Petero touchdown from two yards out.
The game went to overtime after Centennial erased a 27-14 deficit with two big-play touchdown passes from
Dominick Catalano to
Ty Plinski deep into the fourth quarter. But Santa Margarita blocked the extra point to keep the score knotted at 27 and send the game to overtime.
Trace Johnson threw two touchdown passes Thursday night to help his Heisman Trophy-winning head coach Carson Palmer notch his first victory. (FILE PHOTO: Rene Morales)
The Huskies used a double pass from
Keawe Browne to
Tyler George to score on the game's first play from scrimmage in the battle of MaxPreps Top 25 teams.
But Santa Margarita righted the ship for the better part of three quarters before the fourth-quarter magic from Centennial, answering the opening score with 20 straight points. The defense complemented the offense with a pair of
Ca'ron Williams interceptions, one a 60-yard pick-6.
Trace Johnson tossed two touchdowns on 16 of 23 passing for 192 yards. His main weapon was sophomore
Ryan Clark, who caught six passes for 70 yards and a score.
Santa Margarita led 20-7 at halftime as Williams' second interception thwarted a Corona Centennial drive with time running out on the second quarter.
The Huskies cut the deficit to 20-14 midway through the third, aided by three personal foul penalties on the Eagles, with a 2-yard
Malaki Davis run. But Santa Margarita answered right back just as it had in the first half, boosting the lead to 27-14 on a 39-yard Johnson-to-
Grant Mosley touchdown pass.
Catalano hit Plinksi on bombs of 76 and 42 yards.
Santa Margarita (1-1) travels to Highland (Palmdale) on Sept. 5 while Centennial (1-1) hosts Bignham (South Jordan, Utah) on Sept. 6.
