Head Coaches
Eagle Head Coach Jim Hartigan is 100-34-1 (.744) entering his 12th season as varsity Head Coach. Overall Coach Hartigan has a 116-37-2 (.755) 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. Coach Hartigan has directed his squads into the playoffs in ten of their 11 seasons and has never posted a losing season. Jim has coached in three CIF Championship Games, winning two, and several exciting games including two recognized as State Games of the Week during the 1998 season, a National Game of the Year (the 1997 CIF Championship Game) and the 1997 Orange County All-Star Game. The Bulldogs are led by second-year coach Lou Randall who is 6-6 at Ayala and 39-26 overall.

Quickfacts
This game marks the start of the Eagles 12th varsity season and their second in CIF-SS Division I. They finished 1999 with a 6-5 record and a 1-2 mark in the highly competitive Serra League. o The Eagles have played 135 varsity games and have posted a record of 100-34-1 (.744). Their .744 winning percentage is the best in Orange County.

This is the Eagles' sixth game at Cal State Fullerton, and they are 2-0 as the road team and 4-1 (.800) overall at CSUF's Titan Field. Santa Margarita's all-time road record is 45-21 (.682).

This is the first game between Santa Margarita and the Chino Hills Ayala Bulldogs. It marks the third year in a row that the Eagles have opened against a team outside of Orange County. Last year, the Eagles beat San Diego Lincoln 24-6, and in 1998 they beat Compton Dominguez 13-8.

The Eagles are ranked 7th in CIF Division I and Ayala is ranked 2nd in Division II.

This is the 4th game overall between the Eagles and a team from San Bernardino County, and the second in a row. The Eagles lost 31-0 to Rialto A.B. Miller in the first round of the CIF Playoffs in 1999. Santa Margarita's all time record against S.B. County teams is 2-1, and their record against teams from the Inland Empire is 8-1 (.888).

Ayala finished the 1999 season 6-6, and in third place in the Sierra League. They advanced to the CIF Division II quarter-finals where they lost to Pennisula 29-0. The Bulldog's won two CIF titles in the 1990's, return 21 lettermen and 12 and starters are expected to compete for the Sierra League title in 2000. Ayala is coached by Lou Randall.

The Eagles are 8-3 (.727) in season opening games. They are 80-21 (.792) in seasons when they win their first game and 20-13-1 (.603) in seasons when they don't.