Spring Valley —  There was nary a little secret in either dish as a pair of the most unique menus anywhere clashed on the turf at Mt. Miguel on Friday night.

Santa Fe Christian cooks a wing-T offense with a distinct Britton accent. Mt. Miguel serves up slice after slice of Laverdiere.

The difference was two unforeseen ingredients late in the first half that enabled SFC to savor a tasty 28-14 win.

Mt. Miguel (2-2) was poised to tie the game at 14 just before halftime, but do-everything quarterback Jacob Laverdiere was stopped at the 1-yard line when Luca Torti forced a fumble that Kevin Olah recovered in the scrum near the goal line with less than a minute before intermission.

 
Time to kneel, right? Think again. The Eagles (4-0) ran a pair of QB keepers by Thomas Greupner to get the ball to the 9-yard line. Then, barely getting the final snap off before the horn, Greupner handed off to Stephen Britton.

The leading rusher in the San Diego Section showed why he is by cutting in and out, twirling about, shedding about six would-be tacklers and actually running about 160 yards (91 officially) over the course of 25-or-so seconds to score and make it 21-7.

“I used to watch him in seventh grade P.E., and that’s exactly what he used to do then,” SFC coach Jon Wallace said. “He makes you look like a great coach.”

On a simple trap play, Britton said, “We were getting short on time. We knew it was our last play. My offensive line opened a nice hole. The receivers and wings did a great job downfield. I just couldn’t let them down.”

 
Britton, a 6-foot, 215-pound senior, entered the game as the No. 1 rusher in the section with 851 yards in four games for a 213-yard average and 14 touchdowns for the Eagles.

Britton became the first section back to surpass 1,000 yards on his 91-yard touchdown scamper. He might wind up as the only one. He finished with 202 yards and three TDs on 14 carries to give him 1,053 yards and 17 TDs on the season.

Laverdiere, a 5-9, 185-pound senior, was No. 2 with 536 yards in three games for a 179 average and eight TDs for the Matadors. He finished with 126 yards and two TDs on 30 carries. He also threw for 150 yards on 14-of-18 passing, and he rarely fumbles.

“That’s tough,” Mt. Miguel coach Troy Starr said. “He just stretched the ball out trying to score, and he knows he shouldn’t do that in that situation.

“It was a great effort, though. It was a great effort by all our guys. I couldn’t be prouder. That’s a great football team over there.”

Wallace and Starr have tremendous respect for one another, so they have scheduled a game in each of Starr’s three years at Mt. Miguel. The Eagles are 3-0 in this recent series, but this one could have gone either way.

SFC scored on its first four possessions and had only one other when the Eagles ran out the clock to preserve the win.

Britton scored on a 34-yard run to cap an opening, six-play, 60-yard drive. Mt. Miguel answered with a 16-play, 80-yard scoring possession that took 11:14 to make it 7-7 when Laverdiere rushed into the end zone from 4 yards. Laverdiere rushed 12 times on the drive for 68 yards and completed all four passes for the rest.

Six plays later, the Eagles were flying again as Greupner bulled into the zone for a 3-yard TD.

The Matadors countered with an 11-play drive but were stopped on the fumble.

To start the second half, Mt. Miguel went 80 yards in 13 plays to close to 21-14 as Laverdiere scored his 10th TD on a 9-yard keeper. His sister, junior Juliana Laverdiere, booted a PAT for the third game in a row.

Britton scored again (on a 2-yard run) to cap a 10-play, 70-yard drive to make it 28-14.

The Matadors threatened once more, but after 10 plays and 68 yards, they were stopped at the 5-yard line.

Britton rushed for almost 1,500 yards his first three years until he blew out his knee (ACL) on the first play of the sixth game in 2019. Laverdiere averaged 310 passing yards per game in his first two seasons.

“He’s done kind of what we expected all along,” SFC coach Jon Wallace said of Britton. “Now, he’s getting a short window to prove it, and he’s taking advantage of it.”

Wallace was equally praiseworthy of Laverdiere. “He’s a load. They run power (plays) six different ways. My kind of football. That kid is remarkable. Troy has done an incredible job of recognizing that kid’s skills and adapting plays to fit him, whether it’s run or pass.”

Lindgren is a freelance writer.

SANTA FE CHRISTIAN 28, MOUNT MIGUEL 14