Dana Hills Latest to Rock Santa Margarita

A week ago, Santa Margarita was Orange County’s top-ranked team. By Tuesday, the Eagles might be out of the top 10.

Last week, they were ambushed at Carlsbad. Friday night, they were embarrassed by Dana Hills, 37-14, before about 4,000 at Saddleback College.

Dana Hills (1-2) scored 13 points in losses to Fountain Valley and Los Alamitos, but the Dolphins scored at will against Santa Margarita, reeling off 31 points after falling behind 14-7 in the second quarter.

“We were four plays away from being 2-0,” Dana Hills Coach Scott Orloff said. “I knew if we played well, we’d win. I saw it in their eyes before the game. I cut the pregame routine short and didn’t say a word to them before the game.”

Fourth-ranked Santa Margarita has been outscored 77-34 in its last two games and Coach Jim Hartigan is looking desperately for some answers.

“We’re just not playing good football right now,” he said. “We need to get it straightened out and, hopefully, soon. We’re struggling everywhere--offense, defense, special teams. It’s a total breakdown.”

The most glaring breakdown has come in the passing game. Highly-touted transfer Chris Rix had his third consecutive subpar game, completing only two of seven passes for seven yards with two interceptions. One of them was returned 46 yards for a touchdown by defensive back Nick Garton.

Junior Matt Dlugolecki, who started in place of Rix and alternated series with him most of the night, wasn’t much better, completing two of six for 10 yards.

Hartigan tried to take some pressure off Rix and Dlugolecki by going to a conservative offense that featured tailback Jimmy Herzog. That strategy worked for awhile as Herzog rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries in the first half, which ended tied at 14.

But once Dana Hills took a 21-14 lead on a 52-yard pass from Mike Bergey to wide receiver Damon Alevekios, the Eagles’ game plan began falling apart. The next two Santa Margarita possessions ended with Herzog losing a handoff and Herzog being stuffed on three consecutive inside running plays.

Dana Hills’ Mike Bergey, a transfer from Corona del Mar, rushed for 117 yards in nine carries--all on option keepers--and he passed for 51 yards and two touchdowns.

His biggest run might have come late in the second quarter with his team trailing, 14-7. Bergey faked a fullback dive and sprinted 65 yards to Santa Margarita’s 21-yard line before being pulled down. Three plays later, Bergey faked a handoff and threw a two-yard scoring pass to fullback Matt Whittaker with six seconds left in the half.