The El Modena game marks the start of the Eagles' 14th varsity season and their 4th in both CIF-SS Division I and as part of the highly competitive Serra League. Last year, they finished 8-2-2 and won their 4th league championship in six years. They lost to Los Alamitos 29-20 in the CIF Playoffs.

Eagle - Vanguard History (SM leads series 3-0)
1996 (Week 4) SM 32, El Modena 3 @ Saddleback College
1996 (CIF Playoffs) SM 51, El Modena 6 @ Saddleback College
1997 (Week 4) SM 49, El Modena 15 @ Fred Kelly Stadium

This game marks the third straight year that the Eagles have opened their season at Cal State Fullerton. In 2000, they defeated Chino Hills Ayala 22-17, and last year they tied the Bulldogs 21-21.

The Eagles have gone 6-0-1 in their last seven openers, and 9-3-1 overall. Their last opening game loss was in 1994 when they fell 17-12 at Trabuco Hills.

The Eagles are ranked 5th in Orange County, 7th in the West by USA Today and the National Prep Poll, 9th in California per CalHi Sports, 9th in Southern California per the L.A. Times, and 14th in the West per Student Sports.

This is the fourth game between Santa Margarita and the El Modena Vanguards. In 1997, Bryant Wolfsberger rushed for 161 yards on nine carries and Spencer McCroskey scored two touchdowns as the Eagles built a 49-0 lead before posting a 49-15 win in the Eagles 100th game. Nick Cappelletti registered 13 tackles and Andrew Holstein recorded eight and blocked a punt. In 1996, the teams played twice as the Eagles took the regular season match-up 32-3 and a first round Division V playoff game 51-6. A recap of the 1997 game is included herein.

El Modena finished the 2001 season 9-2, and won their second consecutive Century League title. They advanced to the CIF Division VI quarter-finals where they lost in OT 31-24 to Laguna Hills. The Vanguards are led by 5th year Coach Jason Hitchens, a former assistant at Santa Margarita, who has a career mark of 22-19-1.

Head Coach Jim Hartigan - AFCA
Jim Hartigan, 42, is 116-39-3 (.744) in his 14th season as the Eagles' varsity Head Coach. Overall, Coach Hartigan has a 132-42-4 (.753) record in 15 seasons 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 four League Championships and two CIF Titles - all coming in the past six 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 12 of their 13 seasons, including seven in a row, and has never posted a losing season. Jim has coached eight High School All-Americans, 72 players who have gone on to play in the collegiate ranks and five who have gone on to the NFL. His 28-game winning streak from 1996-98 is the second best in Orange County history.