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St. Margaret’s ended its turnaround season on an emphatic note at home Friday night, Oct. 27, demolishing Calvary Chapel, 55-14, to extend the Tartans’ winning streak to five games.
Couple that with a shutout win for Orange (6-4, 5-1) over Santa Ana (7-3, 5-1), and St. Margaret’s (6-4, 5-1) can claim a share of the Orange Coast League championship as another major accomplishment for first-year head coach Dan O’Shea.
O’Shea spoke about how far the program has come in the 10 months he’s been on the job, from one that didn’t have an offseason strength program and only 35 players on the roster to an outfit that boasts 60 players with a freshman/sophomore team. He added that he was proud of his players for trusting their coaches and sticking through the journey.
“I’m not sure you could find a more ecstatic football coaching staff in the United States of America,” said O’Shea. “Then, for us to be able to represent these young men as league champions in the last version, ever, of the Orange Coast League…is an honor.
“It’s a good time to order a t-shirt for the league championship,” he added with a smile on his face.
O’Shea expects the Tartans, Orange, and Santa Ana to all compete in Division 9 of the upcoming CIF-SS playoffs, with Orange’s win bringing up the Panthers from Division 10 and forcing Santa Ana to fall from Division 8.
The CIF-SS playoff brackets will be released on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 10 a.m.
The Tartans found the end zone on eight consecutive possessions on Friday, in a matchup where Calvary Chapel never had much of a chance to go score-for-score. St. Margaret’s quarterback and University of Chicago commit Max Ruff went 16-of-18 passing for 208 yards and four touchdowns.
Running back Matt Arena also totaled four touchdowns, all on the ground, to go with 122 yards on 10 carries.
Calvary Chapel (4-6, 2-4) showed life late in the second quarter when heaves of 39 and 27 yards set up the Eagles for a seven-yard touchdown run for Quinlan Russell. That cut the score to 21-7, but the Eagles were unable to put up much more of a fight.
O’Shea mentioned the program’s emphasis on perfection and a desire to never punt or give up first downs, adding that he was “extremely pleased” with his defense’s performance and that the offense played “lights out.”
“We will keep chasing our standard, which is near impossible, but it’s the standard,” he said.
St. Margaret’s started 2023 with a 1-4 record, which included high-scoring losses to Ontario Christian and Santa Ana and a blowout defeat at the hands of Western.
“We were bludgeoned into oblivion and played some of the worst football that our coaching staff has seen in a long time,” O’Shea said.
After the Santa Ana game on Sept. 14, O’Shea said the staff reset the entire program, making improvements defensively and transforming into a “quality football team” that represents St. Margaret’s well.
The Tartans will look to represent their institution in the CIF-SS playoffs next week chasing their first section championship since 2014.
