SANTA ANA – Both offenses were struggling. So defense was going to win this football game.
Santa Margarita’s defense was better than Mater Dei’s by just enough to get the Eagles a 7-6 win over the Monarchs on Friday in a Trinity League football game at Santa Ana Stadium.
It is Santa Margarita’s first varsity football win over Mater Dei since a 16-7 win over the Monarchs in 2013.
Mater Dei led 6-0 at halftime. The Monarchs in the second half were stopped on fourth down twice, punted once and another possession ended on an interception by Santa Margarita’s Siua Holani.
Santa Margarita got its touchdown with 5:06 remaining in the game on a 1-yard run by Trent Mosley, a receiver who lined up to take the direct snap before bolting around the left side of the line and into the end zone.
Tyler Wiegand kicked the extra point for the 7-6 lead. Eagles quarterback Trace Johnson was the holder on the kick, and pulled up the low snap to square it up just before Wigand’s foot came swinging into the ball.
Santa Margarita, No. 3 in the Orange County Top 25, is 5-2 overall and 2-0 in league including a 17-7 win over Servite last week at Santa Ana Stadium. Orange County No. 1 Mater Dei is 4-2 overall and 1-1 in league including a 25-10 win over Orange Lutheran last week.
Mosley, a senior committed to USC and a two-time All-Orange County first-team selection, had not played since the season opener because of a foot injury.
He was relieved to play again and to get the win, and to get into the end zone in his first game back.
“It felt great,” Mosley said. “We really needed it. Good play call, good blocking by our O-line got me in there.”
Santa Margarita first-year coach Carson Palmer praised the Eagles defensive players and the team’s defensive coordinator Steve Fifita.
“Steve’s phenomenal,” Palmer said of Fifita, the Santa Margarita interim coach last year. “He coaches them with so much passion and they play with that passion.
“It’s a senior-heavy group. Some incredible players, some incredible leaders. The way they play is inspiring.”
Mater Dei’s coaching staff might be spending the weekend second-guessing its decision to go for two points on the Monarchs’ only touchdown, a running play for no gain that kept their lead to 6-0.
The Monarchs put together a 17-play, 91-yard drive that consumed 10 minutes and 4 seconds from the end of the first quarter and well into the second. Mater Dei quarterback Ryan Hopkins fired the ball to the left side of the end zone where receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt reached above his head to pull in the pass for the touchdown. Mater Dei went for two points, but Nathan Enriquez, who took the direct snap, was stopped at the 2-yard line, leaving the Monarchs with a 6-0 lead.
Santa Margarita had a fine opportunity in the first quarter after recovering a muffed punt return attempt at the Mater Dei 28-yard line. The Eagles, though, would fumble the ball away four plays later at the Mater Dei 9-yard line. Mater Dei went on its touchdown drive from there.
Mater Dei’s defensive effort included two interceptions by CJ Lavender, his third and fourth interceptions this season.
Mater Dei’s next game is a league game against Servite at Santa Ana Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Santa Margarita plays St. John Bosco on Friday, Oct. 17, in a league game at Trabuco Hills High.