The Eagles are 3-0-1 as they enter Week 5 of their 13th varsity season. It marks the 5th time the Eagles have entered Week 5 undefeated. Their start is the best since they began the 1997 campaign 4-0.

The Tustin Tillers are 2-2 on the year. They are a perennial league and CIF title contender and are currently ranked 4th in Division VI. They finished the 2000 season 12-2 and won the Golden West League Championship after going 4-0 in League play.

Santa Margarita and Tustin have played several memorable games over the years, but the Eagles have had the upper hand winning six of seven meetings. (See left). The most famous game was the 1997 CIF Division V Championship game where the Eagles prevailed 55-42 - a game described by the Orange County Register as the "Game of the Decade".

This is the eighth game between Santa Margarita and the Tustin Tillers. Despite playing the Tillers seven times the venue hasn't changed much. Five of the seven previous meetings have been at Northrup Field, one at Cal State Fullerton and one at Saddleback College. The Eagles have played the Tillers only once at Saddleback College, in 1993, where they prevailed 21-16.

Series History (SM 6-1)
1992 SM 35, Tustin 21 @ Northrup Field
1993 SM 21, Tustin 16 @ Saddleback
1995 * SM 42, Tustin 22 @ Northrup Field
1996 * SM 31, Tustin 0 @ Northrup Field
1997 * SM 55, Tustin 42 @ CSU Fullerton
1998 * SM 28, Tustin 19 @ Northrup Field
2000 Tustin 35, SM 14 @ Northrup Field
* Playoff games

Santa Margarita is ranked 17th in the nation by USA Today. Their pre-season No. 12 ranking was their highest ever. They are ranked 3rd in CIF-SS Division I, and have been ranked in the Top 10 by the CIF office in 22 of the 25 weekly polls since joining Division I in 1999. They are currently ranked 3rd in Orange County and have also been ranked in the Orange County Top 10 in 64 of the last 72 polls.

Their .747 winning percentage is the best in Orange County.

Head Coach Jim Hartigan
Jim Hartigan, 41, is 111-37-2 (.747) in his 13th sseason as varsity Head Coach. Overall, Coach Hartigan has a 127-40-3 (.756) record 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 has won three league Championships and two CIF Titles - all coming in the past five years. Jim 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 11 of their 12 seasons and has never posted a losing season. Jim has coached six High School All-Americans, 68 players who have gone onto play in the collegiate ranks and three who have played in the NFL. His 28-game winning streak from 1996-98 is the second best in Orange County history.