Football: Eagles look for share of Trinity League title

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How big is tonight’s Trinity League showdown between Anaheim Servite and Santa Margarita?

Kickoff is an hour away and the stands are filling rapidly at Cerritos College in Norwalk for a contest that holds major playoff implications and will determine the league championship. Servite is the top-ranked team in The Times’ Top 25 poll and has clinched a share of the league title but could take it outright and possibly earn the No. 1 seed in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division playoffs.

The Friars’ offense got a lift with the return of Charlie Eteaki (back from a broken collarbone), who rushed for a pair of long touchdowns in last week’s win against Mater Dei. However, Eteaki could miss tonight’s game with a slight knee strain. Coached by Troy Thomas, Servite (8-1, 4-0) has won four straight since its 31-28 loss to Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas in its nonleague finale.

Santa Margarita, ranked No. 11 in the Southland by The Times, is led by reigning CIF Coach of the Year Harry Welch, who was selected football coach of the week by the ABC Sports affiliate in Los Angeles. If the Eagles (8-1, 3-1) can pull off the upset they would gain a share of the league title and the higher playoff seed by virtue of their head-to-head win. They have gone 17-4 in their first two seasons under Welch after finishing 3-7 the year before he arrived. Santa Margarita’s run-oriented attack is paced by quarterback Johnny Stanton and tailback Ryan Wolpin.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Check back for scoring updates throughout the game.

-- Steve Galluzzo