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COSTA MESA – Houston Thomas had a fine birthday.
Thomas celebrated his 19th birthday with his Servite teammates Thursday by rushing for a career-high 193 yards with three touchdowns in the Friars’ 48-21 win over Santa Margarita in a Trinity League football game at Orange Coast College.
Servite, ranked No. 2 in the Orange County top 25, is 7-0 overall and 2-0 in league. No. 4 Santa Margarita is 6-2 overall and 1-1 in league.
The Eagles play national No. 1 Mater Dei on Friday, Oct. 15 at Santa Ana Stadium. The Friars play JSerra in a league game Thursday, Oct. 14 at Orange Coast College.
After the Friars play JSerra next week they play Mater Dei and then St. John Bosco back-to-back in the final two weeks of the regular season. Servite might have to play with more consistency against those two than it did against Santa Margarita.
Arizona-committed senior quarterback Noah Fifita completed 20 of 34 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns for Servite, and he rushed for a touchdown. Fifita was intercepted twice.
Senior receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who is committed to Oregon, had eight receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown. Playing in the defensive backfield for some downs, McMillan had one of Servite’s three interceptions. Brock Beurelein and Aden Eckenwiler had the other two interceptions.
Wes Taylor had seven receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown for the Friars.
Santa Margarita junior quarterback Jaxon Potter completed 19 of 42 passes for 232 yards and one touchdown. Jalen Jones was the Eagles’ leading receiver with five receptions for 55 yards.Santa Margarita’s Donovan Comestro and Israel Solomon had interceptions.
Thomas gave the credit for his production Thursday to the Servite offensive line.
“My O-line did a great job tonight and there were a lot of openings for me,” he said.
Thomas is the son of Servite coach Troy Thomas. The coach doesn’t often get to see his son play live, because Troy Thomas is in charge of coaching the Servite defense. When Servite is on offense, Troy Thomas usually is huddled with the Friars defense, with the coach’s back to the field as the defensive unit examines video of the previous defensive series.
“I’ll hear his name being called, and that’s pretty cool,” Troy Thomas said. “Then I’ll get to watch him later at night or the next morning on film.”
Houston Thomas rushed for 193 yards and 3 touchdowns in Servite’s 48-21 win over Santa Margarita … on his birthday. Teammates sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him after the game. @ocvarsityguy @ocvarsity
— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) October 8, 2021
Servite got off to a strong start Thursday. Beuerlein, nephew of all-time Servite great and longtime NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein, returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown two minutes into the game for a 7-0 lead.
Fifita scored on a 4-yard run midway through the first quarter to make it 14-0 and Houston Thomas got his first touchdowns on a 19-yard run with 38 seconds left in the quarter.
Santa Margarita scored early in the second quarter on a 25-yard pass from Potter to Niko Lopez to trim the Servite lead to 21-7. The Eagles made it a one-score game later in the quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Jake Foye with 2:25 remaining in the second quarter.
The Friars put the game away with three touchdowns in the third quarter. Houston Thomas, who all game zipped through holes and carried Santa Margarita tacklers with him for a few more yards, scored on runs of 11 and 25 yards and Fifita threaded a pass through end-zone traffic to McMillan for a 4-yard touchdown pass and a 42-14 lead.
A 12-yard touchdown pass from Fifita to Taylor early in the fourth quarter made it 48-14. Santa Margarita concluded the scoring with a 63-yard touchdown sprint by Justin Rivera.
