Eagles’ O’Gorman Is at His Best

There is something about a Southern Section championship game that brings out the best in Santa Margarita wide receiver Mike O’Gorman.

Only this time it didn’t bring a title despite an amazing performance in which he caught seven passes for a career-high 218 yards. He had three touchdowns and a two-point conversion that tied the score, 24-24, with 1 minute 37 seconds left at Cal State Fullerton.

He also rushed five times for 23 yards.

“No one thought we would get here,” O’Gorman said. “Even the coaches doubted us at times. But we worked [hard] to get here.”

O’Gorman had been an afterthought much of last season because the Eagles had so many talented receivers. But he caught five passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns as Santa Margarita beat Tustin, 55-42, to win its second consecutive section title last year.

His night didn’t start nearly as well Friday. He had trouble hanging on to a pair of very catchable passes from quarterback Greg Orlando. But O’Gorman used it to increase his concentration.

“I dropped a couple of balls,” O’Gorman said, “but I didn’t let it get me down. I kept playing because I figured good things would happen.”

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The end of the game will long be remembered but the start was pretty stunning as well, especially for Woodbridge linebacker Dave Grijalva.

The junior scored his only touchdown of the year after picking off a lateral on the first play from scrimmage.

It started innocently enough with Santa Margarita starting at its 32-yard line. Orlando took a quick drop and threw to the left side toward wide receiver Matt Lopez who was seven yards behind the line of scrimmage. The overhand lateral was high and tipped into the hands of Grijalva who raced 25 yards into the end zone for a 7-0 Woodbridge lead 14 seconds into the game.

“I was just going nuts,” Grijalva said. “I saw the ball was tipped then I just headed toward the end zone. I knew what happened as soon as I got into the end zone. What a momentum shift for us.”

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It was hardly the finest moment for Woodbridge’s amazing defensive unit, which had dominated all season. But it was also hard finding anyone that cared much that the Warriors had just given up a season-high 24 points.

Defensive tackle/linebacker Rael Berkowitz laughed when asked if it mattered how many points Santa Margarita scored.

“It was a tough game,” he said, “We knew they would put up a good fight. I was just crying at the end it was so emotional. It just feels so good.”