Santa Margarita Plays With Heavy Heart In Quarterfinal Loss To Mission Viejo

MISSION VIEJO (CBS) --It was billed as the Must-See Quartefinal game in the PAC-5, but it didn't start out that way. Santa Margarita dug themselves into quite a hole trailing Mission Viejo 17-7 at the half Friday night in their 31-28 loss at Saddleback College. The Eagles deficit could have been more if not for a Johnny Stanton interception of Mission Viejo quarterback Alex Bridgford deep in Eagles territory with under a minute remaining in the first half.

It was a tough night in many aspects for the Eagles. In the days leading up to the game they lost a fixture in the Santa Margarita community, Equipment Manager Vince Pattee, who died unexpectedly. To honor him, the Eagles marched onto the field with a sign that read "COACH PATTEE, ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS." They also wore black, V.P., patches on their left shoulders and others wrote the late coach's initials on their tape and wristbands.

First-year head coach Harry Welch called Pattee, "a rock" of the program. Senior wide receiver Logan Sweet said Pattee was "one of the greatest guys I've ever been around. He's always been there for me ever since I was a freshman. He's been supportive and always been one of the guys I could relate with and talk to if something was going wrong he always had my back and helped me out."

The Eagles played motivated in the second half. They opened the frame scoring 13 straight points against their counterparts from South Orange County. Sweet caught a 49-yard touchdown pass to get the Eagles within three. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Adam Young rushed for a 4-yard score on a quarterback keeper. After a failed extra point on a botched snap, the Eagles led 20-17. Their first lead of the game.

It was also their last lead of the game. The Diablos answered right back with two Dallas Kessman touchdowns to go up 31-20. The Eagles answered late with another Sweet touchdown reception followed by a Young run for the two-point conversion, but that was the Eagles last possession of the game. After the Diablos recovered the onside kick, they ran the clock out for the win.

Mission Viejo (12-0) will face Mater Dei (8-4) Friday in a semifinal matchup. The Monarchs are in the semifinals for the first time since 2005. That year they lost to eventual CIF Champion, Loyola. Meanwhile, Santa Margarita has their season come to an end. It was quite a turnaround, in Welch's first season. Last year, the Eagles went 3-7 and didn't win a Trinity League game.