The Eagles are 4-1-1 as they enter Week 7 of their 13th varsity season. Their start is the best since they began the 1999 campaign 5-1. Serra League play begins next week.

This is the first meeting between Santa Margarita and the Loyola Cubs - one of the highest profile opponents the Eagles have faced. The Cubs are ranked 2nd in CIF Division I, 3rd in California, 4th in the LA Times Top 25 and 22nd nationally in Student Sports' Fab 50.

Del Rey League cross-over games (SM 4-1)
1999 SM 35, Bishop Amat 26 @ Saddleback
1999 Alemany 42, SM 28 @ Alemany H.S.
2000 SM 21, Bishop Amat 19 @ Bishop Amat H.S.
2000 SM 31, Alemany 10 @ Saddleback
2001 SM 28, St. Paul 14 @ St. Paul HS ("The Pit")

The Eagles are 2-0 vs. nationally ranked teams beating No. 7 (USA Today) Mater Dei 21-14 in 2000 and No. 17 (Fab 50) Bishop Amat 35-26 in 1999.

The Eagle-Cub match-up is the last of six scheduled "cross-over" games between the Serra and Del Rey Leagues. The Eagles are 4-1 in these games while Loyola is 3-2. Loyola and Bishop Amat are scheduled to leave the Del Rey League after the 2001 season and join the Serra League.

Loyola is 5-0 on the year after finishing the 2000 season 12-2 and reaching the CIF-SS Division I Championship Game. The Cubs are one of the most storied programs in California history winning 36 league titles, four CIF Championships and one national title while going 548-225-36 since 1924. Their 548 documented wins are fifth best in California history; however, it is believed that they have actually won at least 21 more games due to incomplete records between 1897 and 1923. They are led by legendary coach Steve Grady who is 238-64-5 (.783) in 26 seasons at Loyola.

Santa Margarita is ranked 5th in CIF-SS Division I, and have been ranked in the Top 10 by the CIF office in 24 of the 27 weekly polls since joining Division I in 1999. They are currently ranked 4th in Orange County and have been ranked in the Orange County Top 10 in 66 of the last 74 polls. They are also ranked 13th in the LA Times' Top 25 Regional Poll. Please see the complete poll list herein.

Their .743 winning percentage is the best in Orange County. View Here.

Head Coach Jim Hartigan
Jim Hartigan, 41, is 112-38-2 (.743) in his 13th season as varsity Head Coach. Overall, Coach Hartigan has a 128-41-3 (.753) 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.