Bird’s-Eye View : Santa Margarita’s Eagles Might Be Overlooked Now, but They Hope to Surprise People This Season

The Santa Margarita Eagles got a rude awakening this week. Despite returning 16 starters, including six who have started since they were sophomores, the Santa Margarita football team didn’t make the preseason county top-10 polls.

The team isn’t even favored to win its first Sea View League title. A majority of the league’s coaches picked fifth-ranked El Toro, the defending Southern Section Division V champion.

None of that pleased Santa Margarita’s players, who have set lofty goals.

“We’re concentrating on winning the league title and going 14-0 and winning a CIF title,” said Brett Crowder, a wide receiver and defensive back.

That could be a tall order, particularly in Division V, where playoff competition is expected to be the best in years. Besides El Toro, the division features No. 4 Servite, runner-up in last year’s championship game, and No. 10 Kennedy. The Fighting Irish say they have one of the best teams in school history.

However, Santa Margarita can prove its critics wrong by beating Trabuco Hills a 7 tonight, then coming back and defeating Servite at Saddleback College Sept. 27. The Eagles play El Toro at Trabuco Hills High on Nov. 8.

Santa Margarita (8-4 last season) was only eight points from an undefeated regular season and reached the Division V quarterfinals. But the team has not won a league title in its seven varsity seasons and finished in a three-way tie for second place with a 3-2 record a year ago.

“People are getting anxious,” running back/cornerback Billy Newman said. “You’re used to football being the main thing [on campus] and since we haven’t progressed in the last couple of years, people are starting to get antsy.”

Crowder and Newman were among a group of a dozen or so senior players who held a meeting Sunday to discuss the upcoming season. Many in attendance hoped to mirror the success of last season’s boys’ basketball team, which won the Division II-AA title. All five senior starters on that Eagle team met as freshmen and made a pledge to win the division title before they graduated.

Can the football team enjoy the same success?

“Everyone wants us to win and everyone knows we can do it,” Crowder said. “It’s a matter of us putting it all together. If there is any pressure, it’s pressure we put on ourselves because we want to win so badly.”

Coach Jim Hartigan said it would be a relief if the team does well.

“There’s no real pressure from anyone,” he said. “I just think that as a staff and as a team, we are putting pressure on us to come up and win one for ourselves. We know we’ve been around long enough now to accomplish that goal.”

The Eagles went 12-1 in 1989, their first year of varsity competition, playing a free-lance schedule. They were 10-0 during the regular season and were placed in the Division IV playoffs, where they were defeated in the semifinals by Baldwin Park.

“That was the closest year we came to getting a title,” Hartigan said.

The Eagles were moved into the Olympic League, then in 1992 joined the Sea View League. Santa Margarita, which has advanced to the playoffs each season except 1994, is 54-24-2 under Hartigan.

“We’ve been very successful and very competitive,” Hartigan said. “But we have not won a league or CIF title. There’s no question in our minds we would like to accomplish that, and I think this year that we have to be considered one of the favorites for the league title.”

Like many teammates, tight end/linebacker Chris Long has worked hard in the off-season to prepare for the title quest. Every time the Eagles lifted weights, every time they ran, at every summer passing league game, the tone was the same, Long said.

“We know we can do it,” he said.

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SANTA MARGARITA VS. TRABUCO HILLS

Featured Game

When: 7 tonight.

Where: Trabuco Hills High.

Records: Santa Margarita (0-0); Trabuco Hills (0-0).

Rankings: Neither team is among the preseason top 10.

Noteworthy: Santa Margarita’s offensive strength is versatile running back Bill Newman, who rushed for 1,011 yards last season. On defense, the Eagles return nine starters. Trabuco Hills will be looking to bounce back from a 3-7 season in 1995. The Mustangs have a balanced attack, but their weak links are the inexperienced offensive and defensive lines.