Santa Margarita's Ryan Wolpin, shown protecting the ball among a pile of players, had a 50-yard touchdown run with 1:30 remaining to seal the victory. Wolpin finished with 206 yards rushing.
Photo by Louis Lopez
. -- When it comes to hype, high school football games rarely, if ever, live up to the advanced billing. Friday night in Southern California was an exception to the rule.
Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) entered its nonleague showdown against visiting
St. Bonaventure (Ventura) as the nation's No. 3 team in the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 rankings. The Seraphs were no slouches. Far from, in fact, considering they were most recently ranked No. 29 in the country.
In the end, however, Santa Margarita prevailed due in part to the play of
Johnny Stanton and
Ryan Wolpin. The senior tandem remained composed as the offense struggled early in the game, but once things finally got rolling, there was no stopping the unit in a 35-27 victory at Saddleback College.
"In games big like this one, when there's so much at stake, it really comes down to who wants it more,'' said Stanton, a Nebraska commit who finished with 135 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns. On the ground, he gained another 105 yards and scored once for Santa Margarita (5-0).
Wolpin put the game out of reach for the Eagles in the waning moments. He scored on a 50-yard run with 1:30 remaining in the fourth quarter for the final margin of victory.
When St. Bonaventure (4-1) needed a big play late in the game, they turned to
Zachary Green. The senior and Arizona commit responded, more often than not. His 6-yard touchdown run with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter cut the deficit to 28-27. The Seraphs went for the lead, but the upset bid ended when Green was stopped short of the goal line on the subsequent two-point conversion.
Green finished with 108 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns.
St. Bonaventure's Zachary Green had three touchdowns.
Photo by Louis Lopez
"It was like a heavyweight fight. They punched us, we gave it back to them. We went round-for-round with them out there tonight,'' St. Bonaventure coach Todd Therrien said.
In search of momentum in the second half, the Eagles kept the ball on the ground behind Wolpin. He was able to pick up yards in chunks and Stanton capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give Santa Margarita a 28-21 advantage with 2:23 left in the third quarter.
Wolpin had 206 yards on 13 carries with a pair of touchdowns.
With a touchdown lead, the Seraphs gambled to start the third quarter. Their onside kick, however, failed and the Eagles had great field position. Five plays later, Stanton hit Kyle Sweet on a 44-yard touchdown pass to tie the score, 21-21, with 9:54 remaining on the clock.
The Seraphs opened some eyes in the first half, moving the ball with relative ease. On a fourth down and short play inside the red zone,
Ricky Town tossed a 4-yard touchdown to
Montre Lee. Suddenly St. Bonaventure had a 21-14 lead with 7:21 left in the second quarter.
"We got off to a slow start and you can't do that against good teams. We almost paid the price, but in the end, found a way to win,'' Santa Margarita coach Harry Welch said.
The Eagles appeared nervous from the start — odd given the fact they were in familiar surroundings at nearby Saddleback College, less than 10 miles from their high school campus. Fans came out in droves, 6,000-plus, but the high-profile program disappointed their faithful early on.
Green scored on an 31-yard run and a 3-yarder to give the Seraphs an all-important 14-7 advantage with less than five minutes remaining in the opening quarter of play.
Santa Margarita answered. After Stanton's 12-yard touchdown pass to
River Cracraft, Wolpin scored on a 1-yard run to tie the score, 14-14, at the end of the first quarter.
Maybe the nearly three-hour commute for the Seraphs played somewhat of a factor in Friday's outcome. Then again, they have been road warriors all season long. St. Bonaventure traveled two-plus hours to the Inland Empire for back-to-back wins in the last month. Last week, a three-hour road trip to San Luis Obispo County was necessary before returning home with a victory.
Perhaps the traveling finally caught up with the Seraphs. Regardless, they are at home next week for the Marmonte League opener against Westlake (Westlake Village).
As for Santa Margarita, the beat goes on. Trinity League play begins next week against traditionally tough and visiting Servite (Anaheim). In the meantime, the improvement continues for the Eagles as they build on their growing reputation as one of the nation's premier programs.
"You can't ask for a better game than this one tonight,'' Welch said.
Video by Loghan Call.
