Santa Margarita wins Battle at the Beach Tournament
In this article:
Everybody expected a Trinity League team to win the prestigious Battle at the Beach passing tournament at Edison High in Huntington Beach. But nobody expected Santa Margarita to be that Trinity League team to win it all. The Eagles finished…
Access all of Prep Redzone
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingEverybody expected a Trinity League team to win the prestigious Battle at the Beach passing tournament at Edison High in Huntington Beach.
But nobody expected Santa Margarita to be that Trinity League team to win it all.
The Eagles finished a distant fourth place in the league this spring and have some roster turnover. Santa Margarita was successful in pool play against Edison, Cathedral Catholic and Chaminade.
Edison vs Santa Margarita. pic.twitter.com/cvJnMGLtWN
— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) July 3, 2021
Santa Margarita was put in the gold bracket of the tournament and beat Los Alamitos in the first round. Los Alamitos was without top quarterback Malachi Nelson Malachi Nelson 6'3" | 195 lbs | QB Los Alamitos | 2023 State CA and receiver Makai Lemon Makai Lemon 6'0" | 175 lbs | ATH Los Alamitos | 2023 State CA , but the Eagles cruised to a win to advance to the semifinals.
In the semis, the Eagles outlasted the nation’s top team, Mater Dei, in overtime.
In the championship game, Santa Margarita defeated Servite 25-19.
The key contributor for the Eagles all day was tight end Niko Lopez. He had 164 yards and two touchdowns receiving as a sophomore last season and he has put on some muscle. His size and speed caused mismatches the entire game and he came down with a lot of jump balls in key moments. Later on, I will highlight the top players from all the teams on the day and Lopez is a strong MVP candidate.
#alldaylong pic.twitter.com/Xlv0zfiDDF
— CoachBFoye (@CoachBFoye) July 4, 2021
New quarterback Jaxon Potter Jaxon Potter 6'4" | 180 lbs | QB Santa Margarita Catholic | 2023 State CA was very good for the Eagles all day. It was my first time seeing him since his freshman year at JSerra and he has improved greatly. He sees the entire field and often hit his third or fourth target in the 3.5 second window during the tournament. Potter also has a bigger arm than I expected and throws a good deep ball. He didn’t really get a chance to showcase his skills on an overmatched JSerra team last season and I expect him to be more comfortable this fall with Santa Margarita.
Santa Margarita beats Mater Dei in overtime in the semifinals. New QB Jaxon Potter looks real good for the Eagles. Santa Margarita and Servite in the championship. @PrepRedzoneCA @ocvarsity @SMCHS_Football @ServiteFootball @GregBiggins
— Michael Huntley (@mikehuntley63) July 3, 2021
Junior running back Jake Foye stood out on Saturday. Typically in these passing tournaments, you see running backs running swing routes and catching five yards balls as a fourth or fifth option. Foye caught a lot of balls over the middle and made guys miss after the catch. It will be interesting to see if his improved playmaking will translate when the pads come on.
Three transfers also had big days for the Eagles. Isreal Solomon, a transfer who spent his freshman year at Northwood (Irvine) and sophomore year at Mission Viejo was impressive on defense for the Eagles. He went toe-to-toe with some of the top receivers in Southern California like CJ Williams CJ Williams 6'2" | 195 lbs | WR Mater Dei | 2022 State CA of Mater Dei.
Tustin transfer Gage Grant has put on some serious size and was all over the field on defense. He was a two-way star for Tustin and will fit in nicely in Santa Margarita’s defense. You learn a lot about players on the field when you listen to opposing players watch games and discuss. A Servite player was telling his teammate how good Grant looked during the Eagles semifinal game. He already has the respect of his Trinity League opponents and will be fun to watch this fall.
Nick Gallegos is another newcomer for Santa Margarita who was a two-way star at Orange Lutheran last season. Gallegos looked impressive on both sides of the ball all day Saturday. When I asked head coach Anthony Rouzier who was playing well in pool play, the first player he mentioned was Gallegos.