MISSION VIEJO – Santa Margarita football coach Carson Palmer was asked who was the most improved Eagles player from the start of the season to the end of the season, which was a 47-13 win over De La Salle in the CIF State Open Division championship game at Saddleback College.
“Oooh, that’s a good question,” Palmer said.
It was suggested that senior quarterback Trace Johnson, who moved from Florida to play at Santa Margarita his senior year, had been the most improved player.
“Yeah, yeah,” Palmer said. “He got more and more comfortable. He’s running a very challenging system to run.”
Palmer thought it over some more.
“He is the most improved player. As the games got bigger he played bigger.”
Johnson’s numbers were fine in the first half of the season. But there were overthrows here, maybe a release that was too late there.
In the second half of the season, Johnson appeared more sure of himself. He set up quicker, put more zip on the ball.
Johnson made an under-pressure throw off his back foot to Eagles receiver Trent Mosley for a 27-yard gain late in the third quarter Saturday. The ball was placed perfectly for Mosley to make the catch. It was a throw he might not have been able to make in September.
Johnson, who signed with Tulane, had two of his better games in the CIF Southern Section and CIF State championship games. He completed 16 of 25 passes for 386 yards and four touchdowns in the 42-7 win over Corona Centennial in the CIF-SS Division 1 final. On Saturday he completed 17 of 20 passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns.
Palmer, a Heisman Trophy winner and star NFL quarterback, said it took time for Johnson to digest the Santa Margarita playbook
“When you’re learning a new system and just getting going, there’s a lot of thinking,” Palmer said. “And maybe you’re a split second late reactions-wise. And as you get more and more reps you get more comfortable and you react faster and think less.
“And even more important than that, the better the teams we played and the crazier the conditions were, he got better.”
NOTES
• On the Spectrum 1 telecast of the De La Salle-Santa Margarita game Saturday night was Chris Rix, who was a Santa Margarita quarterback in the late 1990s. He also was a very good baseball player. Rix went on to be the starting quarterback at Florida State. …
• De La Salle has the most CIF State football championship game wins, with seven. The Spartans also have the most CIF State football finals losses, with 11. Since its last CIF State finals win in 2009, De La Salle is 0-9 in CIF State championship games. …
• De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said he was proud of his team’s effort Saturday night, and indicated that his team might have been overmatched. “There’s no weakness,” he said of Santa Margarita. “They’re similar to those great Mater Dei and St John Bosco teams we’ve seen in the past.” …
• In the first quarter Mosley accumulated 86 yards from 53 receiving yards, 12 rushing yards and a 21-yard punt return. De La Salle had 91 yards of offense in the first quarter. …
• For the game, Mosley had 216 yards. De La Salle finished with 180 yards of total offense. …
• Santa Margarita scored touchdowns the four times they reached the red zone in the first half on the way to building a 35-7 lead. The Eagles did not punt in the first half. De La Salle punted four times in the first half. Santa Margarita’s first punt came late in the fourth quarter. …
• Santa Margarita tight end Luke Gazzaniga missed much of the season because of an ankle fracture. He returned to action for the playoffs. He had a 39-yard touchdown reception in Santa Margarita’s 42-7 win over Centennial in the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game and touchdown catches of 20 yards and 2 yards Saturday against De La Salle. …
• The Eagles’ leading rusher Saturday was freshman Adrian Petero, who ran for 89 yards on 11 carries. …
• Santa Margarita president Andy Sulick, who played a big part in hiring Palmer, said after the game that he spent a moment talking to Palmer’s father Bill Palmer: “I said to him ‘The thing I love about your son is he’s a leader of men, and he’s a servant leader.’ And I think that’s the key to Carson’s success.”