Santa Margarita brings back 15 starters from a team that stormed all the way to the California Division I Bowl Game title. The Eagles have a legendary coach, a star quarterback and massive bodies in the trenches.
Photo by Louis Lopez
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.”
Ryan Wolpin returns in the backfield after racking up animpressive 29 touchdowns last season.
Photo by Louis Lopez
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
