Santa Margarita’s football team won CIF Southern Section Division 1 and CIF State Open Division championships last season.
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This year, Santa Margarita is 8-0 overall and 3-0 in the Trinity League.
The Eagles beat Centennial, 21-20, in a nonleague game and have defeated Servite, Mater Dei and St. John Bosco in league games. They ended a 16-game losing streak against St. John Bosco last week with a 21-7 win over the Braves.
They have outscored their opponents, 240-44, this season and have a 14-game winning streak that began last season.
Eight games is a large enough sample size to compare the 2025 Santa Margarita football team to the 2026 version.
We first bring in Mater Dei coach Raul Lara, whose teams have lost close games to Santa Margarita, 14-7 this season and 7-6 last season.
“It looks like the same Santa Margarita team we’ve been competing against for the last two years,” Lara said. “I think it’s just that they have a very good program. The best thing they did there was getting that coaching staff in there.”
That coaching staff is led by Carson Palmer, who was hired as head coach well before the 2025 season. Former Mater Dei and USC star Lenny Vandermade is the offensive coordinator. Steve Fifita, who was terrific as the Santa Margarita interim head coach in 2024, is the defensive coordinator.
We asked Palmer this week: “At this point of the season, is this year’s Santa Margarita football team better than last year’s Santa Margarita football team after eight weeks?”
“I don’t know yet,” Palmer said. “It’s too tough to tell right now.
“Last year’s team was really special. They got tougher as the season went on. We were on the road for every game in the playoffs, and that takes a tough-minded team to win those games.”
Santa Margarita last season won playoff games at Sierra Canyon and over Orange Lutheran at Orange Coast College before beating Centennial, 42-7, in the CIF-SS Division 1 final at the Rose Bowl.
“So I don’t really know until we go through something like that,” Palmer said. “We’ve got the speed and the talent and the drive to get there. But we’ve still got to prove it.”
Santa Margarita’s final two regular-season games are league games against JSerra on Friday and against Orange Lutheran next week. Then it’s on to the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs, widely seen as the best playoff division in California. That playoff division just might be the best in the nation, too.
Three playoffs wins will get the Eagles another CIF-SS championship, and a CIF-SS championship will get Santa Margarita into another state championship game.
Last year the Eagles had Southern California’s most dangerous offensive player, receiver Trent Mosley, who now is at USC and showing the nation that he can be that same player in college football.
The Eagles’ defense was led by 2025 Orange County defensive player of the year Dash Fifita, a linebacker already making an impression at Arizona.
This season Santa Margarita’s offense has Palmer’s son, Fletch Palmer, a junior, running the offense at quarterback. That’s the same position Palmer played at Santa Margarita, USC, where he won the Heisman Trophy, and for many outstanding years in the NFL.
Sophomore running back Adrian Petero (5-6, 190), who is built like a fire hydrant, has rushed for 636 yards and 14 touchdowns. Freshman Kiyan Callis has a team-high 35 receptions for 472 yards.
A freshman is the team’s leading tackler on defense. Aydan Steen (6-2, 210) has team highs of 27 solo tackles, 61 total tackles and 14 tackles for loss.
Sophomore defensive end Kingston Jimmerson (6-2, 267) leads the team in sacks with 7.5. Freshman Jayden Jack has three interceptions, which tie him for the team lead with junior Ca’ron Williams, who returned an interception for a touchdown in the one-point win over Centennial.
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It appears, so far, that this year’s defense for Santa Margarita might be faster than last year’s defense, which is remarkable given the attacking quickness of the ‘25 unit.
Palmer agrees, and adds …
“Our overall team speed is better,” he said. “I don’t think we’re faster on just one side of the ball. I definitely think our defense is faster, although we’re not as big there. We’ve got a lot of speed on the outside (on offense) but we don’t have the biggest offensive line at all.”
Palmer said this season’s special teams group covers the field on punts and kickoffs especially well. Santa Margarita has blocked three field-goal attempts.
Oddly, Santa Margarita has not successfully kicked a field goal. That’s likely because the Eagles lost standout kicker/punter Gauge Cook, who suffered a season-ending knee injury to his non-kicking leg in Week 0.
The Eagles are ranked No. 1 in the state at CalHiSports and at HSratings. MaxPreps has them at No. 2 in the national rankings, and USA Today has them at No. 1.
It’s another great Santa Margarita team. As great as last year’s team? Coach Palmer said let’s wait and see.
“We’ve got two more games,” he said. “And hopefully four more after that.”
NOTES
• Palmer enjoys coaching his son Fletch. “It’s a blast,” he said. “He’s so tough and so resilient. I’m tough on him and he just takes it and keeps getting better.” …
• The CIF-SS will release the playoff brackets on Nov. 1 at 10 a.m. First-round playoff games are Nov. 6. The CIF-SS finals are Nov. 27 and 28. The Division 1 championship game is Nov. 27 at the Coliseum. The CIF Southern California Regional games are Dec. 4-5. The CIF State championship games are Dec. 11 and 12. The state championship games will be played at Buena Park and Fullerton high schools and Saddleback College. …
• Last week’s Mission Viejo-San Clemente football game was canceled because of the Norte fire and the contest was not rescheduled. If San Clemente had lost to Mission Viejo, that result likely would have pushed the Tritons into Division 2 of the playoffs. Being in Division 2 which greatly enhance San Clemente’s chances for a CIF championship. So, any talk of San Clemente “ducking” Mission Viejo is lacking at least a small bit. …
• The second round of pool play in the CIF-SS girls volleyball Division 1 playoffs includes Santa Margarita at Mater Dei on Tuesday. The teams split their two Trinity League matches. Mater Dei’s only loss this season was to Santa Margarita. …
• Orange County teams went 3-1 in the first round of pool play Wednesday in CIF-SS flag football’s Open Division. JSerra beat Sierra Canyon, 41-20; Newport Harbor beat Dos Pueblos, 19-6; Orange Lutheran beat Downey, 19-6; and Huntington Beach lost by one point to St. Joseph of Lakewood, 27-26. …
• Seven Orange County teams advanced to the second round in CIF-SS Division 1 flag football: Beckman, Corona del Mar, El Toro, Sage Hill, Tesoro, Trabuco Hills and Yorba Linda. …
• Foothill at Sunny Hills on Saturday is a fine-looking match in the Division 3 girls volleyball playoffs. Foothill is 25-5 and won the Freeway League championship. Sunny Hills is 23-8 and finished second to a very-good Crean Lutheran team in the Crestview League. …
• The Fairmont Prep, Orange Lutheran and Santa Margarita hockey teams are tied for first place in Varsity Division 1 of the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League. All three are 3-1. …
• The National Scholastic Surfing Association has its 2027 championships schedule set. Go to NSSA.org for more information on teams and individual standings and results. …
• Mater Dei boys basketball coach Gary McKnight will go into this season with 1,316 career wins, the second-most in national high school boys basketball history. The national boys basketball record of 1,333 coaching wins is held by the late Robert Hughes in Texas whose coaching career began in 1958 and ended in 2005. …
• The Loara Tournament for decades has been the first tournament of the baseball season. It used to start around March 1. The 2027 Loara Tournament starts on Feb. 9, and I’m shivering just thinking about it.
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