Debut like a runaway Mack truck

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Todd Therrien’s debut as head coach at St. Bonaventure couldn’t have been more ... dramatic. Both he and Santa Margarita Coach Mike Jacot agreed to play overtime if necessary, but with 37 seconds left, he went for a two-point conversion and emerged with a 15-14 victory. Of course, he had Darrell Scott in the backfield.

‘We were going for the win. On the road, we’re going for the win. No doubt, we were going to Darrell,’ said Therrien, who replaced Jon Mack, the coach who built the program into a Southland power.

He also said the victory was ‘huge,’ which is understandable, because ‘there’s going to be tough games’ that this team will have to play if it hopes to win a title.

Are any going to be tougher than this one, I asked.

‘I doubt there will be tougher games than this down the road,’ he said.’The Trinity League is the real deal.’

Santa Margarita is generally expected to finish fourth in the Trinity League, which plays in the Pac-5 Division. St. Bonaventure is in the Northern Division.

The reality is that games against Canyon Country Canyon on Sept. 14, Oaks Christian on Sept. 21 and Crespi on Sept. 28 might be tougher, but it’s hard to imagine the Seraphs with a bigger gut check than their performance on Saturday.

Although he said there was ‘no decision’ about him giving the ball to Scott with the game on the line, it was disappointing that on a fourth-and-goal on the four-yard line in the first half that he didn’t give the ball to his star runner.

C’mon, you have the The Man, use him.

By the way, if Scott isn’t an All-L.A. Times running back, he may be the all-star punter. He’s really good, and that’s what impressed me most about his performance against the Eagles.

- Martin Henderson