Eagles Beat El Toro to Complete 10-0 Season

A year ago, Santa Margarita beat El Toro, the defending Southern Section champion, to clinch its first Sea View League title.

Friday, the Eagles again beat the Chargers to put the finishing touches on an unbeaten regular season.

Bryant Wolfsberger scored four touchdowns, including runs of 62 and 60 yards, to lead Santa Margarita to a 44-14 victory at Saddleback College.

Wolfsberger rushed 13 times for 221 yards--all in the first half--as the Eagles took a 38-0 lead.

The Eagles (10-0, 5-0 in league) won last year’s section title game over Newport Harbor, 38-0, and that’s what they’re hoping for again.

Ranked second in Orange County and No. 1 in the Southern Section Division V poll, Santa Margarita will almost certainly be the top-seeded team when the section’s pairings are released on Sunday.

El Toro’s status is more tenuous. The Chargers (3-7-1, 2-2-1) are fourth in the Sea View League, which has traditionally sent the wild-card team to the playoffs. But El Toro’s losing record won’t help.

Santa Margarita certainly played with granite resolve, scoring on three of its first four possessions and five of its first seven. One of the failures was an errant 42-yard field-goal attempt.

“You want to go into the playoffs with some momentum, and we obviously have that,” Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan said. “To go 10-0 was our goal. [Tonight] we were able to rest our starters. We have to be smart now. Hopefully, we have four more games to go.”

Wolfsberger also rushed for a 22-yard score after breaking his 60-plus efforts to give Santa Margarita 14-0 and 21-0 leads. He also scored when El Toro punter David Reyes couldn’t handle a low snap. Wolfsberger took Reyes out of the play and the ball bounced into the end zone. The ball squirted out of a teammate’s grasp and Wolfsberger pounced on it for the touchdown.

It’s the second time he has scored a school-record tying four touchdowns.

“I’d have to say this was my best game because I only had the 13 carries,” said Wolfsberger, who transferred from Capistrano Valley Christian and has now rushed for 1,392 yards, an average of 9.8 per carry.

Nick Sparks added a 44-yard field goal for a 31-0 lead before Wolfsberger’s 22-yarder.

Quarterback Carson Palmer was brilliant on the opening series, completing all five passes for 48 of the 65 yards in the drive. Jordon Beckner made a fingertip catch in the flat and danced along the sideline into the end zone for the early lead 4 minutes 33 seconds into the game.

Palmer (nine for 14, 92 yards), Wolfsberger and John Minardi (four catches, 44 yards) did not play on offense in the second half.