ST. JOHN BOSCO 22, EAGLES 0 (BELLFLOWER, Oct. 24, 2003) – Untimely penalties, costly turnovers and lack of offensive productivity all contributed to Santa Margarita’s first loss of the 2003 season – a 22-0 setback at the hands of the St. John Bosco Braves before a crowd of 4,000 at Fr. Frank Ribotta Field. The loss dropped the Eagles to 6-1 on the season and coupled with Mater Dei’s and Servite’s losses there is now a six-way tie in the Serra League with all teams claiming a 1-1 league record.

The Braves stormed out of the gate almost immediately as they marched 52 yards on six plays before their drive stalled at the Eagle 19 and they settled for a 37-yard field goal by Louis Pindola to grab a 3-0 lead only 2:39 into the game. The Eagle defense stiffened for the balance of the quarter yielding only one first down and forcing two punts; however, the Eagles didn’t fare any better as they managed only 34 yards and two first downs through the first quarter and a half. Early in the second quarter the Braves went on a seven-play 56-yard drive capped by a six-yard touchdown run by Greg Chavez to make it 10-0 with 7:08 left in the half. From there the Eagles put together their best drive of the night. After Chris Ramsey’s 95-yard kickoff return touchdown was called back due to a penalty the Eagles took over at their own 16 and used nine consecutive running plays to s string together a two critical first downs and cross into Brave territory. Unfortunately the drive stalled and the coaches played the percentages and chose to punt on a fourth and one from the Brave 48 with 1:14 left in the half.

On the opening drive of the second half Eagle quarterback Ryan Nienhuis, filling in for Michael Angelo, had a pass intercepted by linebacker Michael Acosta who ran untouched 40 yards for the score to make it 16-0 just 56 seconds into the second half. On their next possession two penalties sabotaged what started out as a promising drive. After trading two punts apiece the Braves closed out the scoring by going on a eight-play 50-yard drive which culminated in a six-yard scoring pass from Patrick Cowan to tight end Anthony Rodriguez to make it 22-0 with 5:30 left in the contest. Talented sophomore Jon Daniels took over at quarterback from that point on, but the visitors could only manage 18 yards of offense on their final three possessions against an inspired Brave defense. The Eagles ended up with season-lows of 124 yards and five first downs, and were led by senior running back Chris Ramsey who finished with a team-high 44 yards rushing.

Although the offense had an off night the defensive unit looked good especially considering that the battle of field position was clearly won by the Braves. Using effective punting the hosts played mistake-free football, but nonetheless managed only 253 total yards and 10 first downs against the Eagles’ Swarm. One key stat was the fact that the visitors couldn’t force a turnover that may have changed the complexion of what was essentially a tight game. Senior linebacker Jack Meehan once again spearheaded the Eagle defensive effort picking up 16 tackles to move within 24 tackles of Mike Farris’ school record. Matt Rupp collected another sack giving him nine on the season and 30 in his career while Mark Restelli and Jeff Azula chipped in nine tackles apiece.