Football: Tartans put streak on the line vs. Parker

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Granted, the two schools may be small, but perhaps the biggest game in the Southland tonight is the intersectional showdown in San Juan Capistrano between St. Margaret’s and Francis Parker.

The host Tartans are riding a 44-game winning streak, yet they will be slight underdogs against the reigning San Diego Section Division V champion Lancers. There is more on the line for St. Margaret’s than just its streak, however. Tonight’s winner becomes the clear favorite for the South’s berth in the CIF State Small Schools Bowl Game in December.

Although Parker played the tougher schedule, St. Margaret’s was picked to represent the South in last year’s first State Small Schools Bowl Game and routed Hamilton City Hamilton, 59-7, at Home Depot Center in Carson. The Tartans went 15-0 last season, winning by an average of 44.7 points per game.

Both teams looked impressive in tune-up games last week, with St. Margaret’s blanking Pasadena Blair, 68-0, and Parker trouncing San Diego Hoover, 40-6.

Winning streaks are nothing new for St. Margaret’s head coach Harry Welch, who piloted Canyon Country Canyon to a 46-game winning streak from 1983-86 (then a Southern Section record) and is riding a 41-game winning streak of his own dating back to his final season at Canyon in 2006.

-- Steve Galluzzo