This is the third meeting between the St. John Bosco Braves and Santa Margarita with the Eagles holding a 2-0 edge. In 1993, the Eagles and Braves engaged in a see-saw battle that resulted in a dramatic 35-32 Eagle win. After Brian Finnaran's 13-yard scoring pass from Derek Yankoff, the Braves used their wing-T offense to go ahead 13-7 late in the first quarter. A Derek Yankoff 2-yard Td run put the Eagles ahead, but the Braves rallied to go ahead 19-14 late in the second quarter. Just before the half, Brian Griffin scored from three yards out to give the Eagles a 20-19 halftime lead. The Braves ran wild in the second half regaining the lead 32-20 with less than six minutes left. Chris Collins' 21-yard Td run closed the gap to 32-27 and Brad Finneran's 11 yard Td reception at the 3:00 mark sealed the Eagle win. Brad finished with 11 receptions for 160 yards and seven tackles to lead the charge. In 1992, Sean O'Brian led a balanced Eagle attack for a commanding 42-7 win.

The Eagles-St. John Bosco and the Servite-Mater Dei Games are the first for the newly formed Serra League.

Despite the loss to Alemany, the Eagles are 16-6 (.727) all-time vs. Division I teams.

Head Coaches

Eagle Head Coach Jim Hartigan is 99-31-1 (.760) in his 11th season as varsity Head Coach. Overall Coach Hartigan has a 115-34-2 (.768) at Santa Margarita if you include 10-0 and 6-3-1 lower level teams that he led in 1987 and 1988 respectively before the Eagles fielded varsity teams. He was honored as the both the 1996 and 1997 Daily Pilot Sea View League Coach of the Year, CIF-SS Division V Coach of the Year and the National Football Foundation Orange County Coach of the Year. The Braves are led by second-year coach Kiki Mendoza (6-11).