Santa Margarita Takes Fourth, Beats Lakewood

Santa Margarita scored 17 points in a span of nine minutes in the fourth quarter to break a tie and record a 27-17 victory over Lakewood Friday night at Saddleback College.

For the third consecutive week, Santa Margarita (2-1) played sluggish football for the first three quarters, but once again found the fourth quarter to be its rallying point.

The Eagles took the lead for good on their first fourth-quarter possession, driving 64 yards in 10 plays. They scored on a three-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Dlugolecki to tight end Dustin Slinkard on fourth and goal play.

On Lakewood’s first play from scrimmage following the Eagle touchdown, defensive back Matt Vogel intercepted a Bryan Clark pass at the Lancer 31-yard line. Five plays later, Dlugolecki scored on a two-yard bootleg around the right side for a 24-10 lead.

The Eagles, ranked ninth in Division I, scored the first points of the season given up by the seventh-ranked Lancers (2-1) on a 32-yard field goal by Curtis Cooper with 8:56 left in the first quarter.

After a Lancer drive stalled, Johnnie Walker returned a punt up the right sideline for a 60-yard touchdown with 5:57 left.

Lakewood eventually scored with 16 seconds left in the first half on a six-yard run by Josh Farmer to make it 10-7.

Farmer scored again with 26 seconds left in the game on a 15-yard pass from Clark.