Santa Margarita Makes Big Plays in Big Win

BUENA PARK —  Turnovers and big plays kept two teams on familiar paths Thursday as ninth-ranked Santa Margarita scored a 42-21 nonleague victory over Buena Park.

Five touchdowns were set up by turnovers, including a 63-yard fumble return by Brian Finneran with 7 minutes 32 seconds left that effectively ended any threats of an upset of Santa Margarita (3-0) by the Coyotes (0-3).

Lewis Warner earlier scored on a 27-yard interception return to give the Eagles a 21-7 halftime lead.

Neither team was sharp. Buena Park lost four of six fumbles and Santa Margarita lost one of three.

In the third quarter, three touchdowns were scored in a 1:13 span, including an 84-yard scoring run by Buena Park’s Tim Jones. Earlier in the quarter, he returned a fumble 40 yards to make the score 21-14. Jones also caught a scoring pass in the first quarter to tie the score, 7-7.

Sandwiched around Jones’ long run was a 30-yard scoring pass from Santa Margarita’s Derek Yankoff to Brad Finneran, and a 14-yard run by Mario Franqui, his second touchdown.