Eagles Win Physical Battle With “The Team Out East”

The Santa Fe Christian Eagles won a very physical battle on the gridiron on Friday night against “The Team Out East” (aka Christian Patriots) by a score of 28-15.  The game was played at Clairemont High School.   With the win over the Patriots, the Eagles remain undefeated and are now 4-0 on the season.

The Eagles racked up 418 yards of offense - 143 passing yards and 275 rushing yards. 

Going into the game commentators had noted that one of the keys to victory for the Eagles was using their strong running game to retain control the ball and keep the ball away from Christian’s high-powered offense.  The Eagles ran the ball 45 times using 6 different runners.  Cooper Whitton led the team in rushing yards with 124 yards, including 2 touchdown runs.  Colton Lehberg added 64 yards.  Thomas Greupner, Dante Rotchford, and Luca Torti added 26, 29 and 25 yards, respectively, with Torti adding a touchdown run of his own.  Kudos to the offensive line for opening the holes.

With the success running the ball SFC only threw 7 passes.  Zack Marshall hauled in 4 catches for 100 yards, including a 36-yard razzle dazzle half back option pass from Kevin Olah.  It was a critical point in the game and resulted in a huge first down for SFC.  Thomas Greupner completed 6 of 8 passes (75%) for 107 yards, including a touchdown pass to Cooper Whitton.

The Eagles’ defensive line, linebackers, and secondary gave up only 2 touchdowns. This is even more impressive given that the Patriots had been averaging 37 points per game prior to playing SFC.  The Eagles’ defense never let Christian come up with that one big play that would turn momentum in Christian’s favor.  The SFC defense caused 5 turnovers, including 2 by Luca Torti and 1 each by Rotchford, Bert Carnes and Will Marenghi.  Zack Marshall recovered 2 fumbles with Rotchford and Charlie Sawyer recovering 1 fumble each.  Rotchford led the team in tackles (7) followed by Will Marenghi (6).  Cooper Whitton and Aaron Hames added 5 tackles each.  Ben Coons also had a big quarterback sack.

Colton Lehberg was interviewed after the game by John Maffei from the San Diego Union Tribune and noted that “We’ve been playing together since middle school.  We have so much confidence in each other.  We trust each other.  We’re close friends.  We have each other’s back.  That’s why we compete the way we do.” 

Teamwork and trust are two things that win games and the Eagles have demonstrated that so far this season, including a great team win over a really good Christian team.

The “Talon Shoutouts” this week go to:

The Entire Defense (holding Christian to only 15 points when they had been averaging 37 points per game in their first 3 games)

The Offensive Line (it all starts in the trenches and our guys controlled the trench)

Cooper Whitton (160 all-purpose yards, 3 touchdowns, multiple batted passes, 4 quarterback hurries, and 5 solo tackles).  Total “beast mode.”

Thomas Greupner (107 passing yards, 26 rushing yards)

Zach Marshall (4 catches for 100 yards (25/catch), 4 tackles, and 2 fumble recoveries)

Colton Lehberg (108 all-purpose yards - 64 rushing (10.7/carry), 7 receiving, and 37 return yards)

Dante Rotchford (team leading 7 tackles, 1 sack, a fumble recovery, and some huge runs late in the game to help retain control of the ball and seal the victory)

Next Friday SFC plays Southwest EC, However the game will be played at LA COSTA CANYON HIGH.

Please come out and cheer on the Eagles.  GO EAGLES!