Palmer Still Looking for Challenges

The brilliant prep football career of Santa Margarita quarterback Carson Palmer is coming to a close, much to the relief of those who have played against him.

Palmer and Santa Margarita have been on a two-year roll that could produce consecutive Southern Section championships.

The Eagles won the Division V title last year and come into tonight’s semifinal against Newport Harbor as the favorite to win it all again. Santa Margarita is on a 23-game winning streak, and has won 25 of its last 26.

Colleges are begging Palmer, who’s 6 feet 5, 220 pounds, to enroll next fall. The leading candidates are Colorado--whose coach, Rick Neuheisel, attended a Santa Margarita game--Washington and USC.

Palmer is the county’s highest-rated quarterback (215.7), having completed 103 of 157 passes for 1,895 yards and 25 touchdowns with only three interceptions.

So how does Palmer feel about his fairy-tale season?

“It’s been a very successful year, but not the way I wanted,” Palmer said. “I would love to be in Division I, to have some other competition.

“All of our starters were out by halftime in many of our games. There weren’t glory games with the exception of Fountain Valley; I wish every game could have been like that.

“But that doesn’t mean winning Division V again is not our goal, because it is still our goal.”

Meeting team goals is important to Palmer. Teammates say he is the unquestioned leader on the field and the most celebrated Santa Margarita player. But Palmer takes great pains to keep his ego in check.

“When someone makes a good play he’s the first to pat them on the back and congratulate them,” said wide receiver John Minardi, who is Colorado-bound.

“There is no jealousy from Carson,” Minardi said. “Everyone knows he’s the best quarterback, but he’s very modest. But he’s the leader of the team.”

What’s not widely known outside Santa Margarita circles is how close Palmer came to leaving the school two years ago.

After Palmer’s sophomore year, his father, Bill, an insurance salesman, got a job in Boston and the family was preparing to move.

“The plan was to go to St. Joseph High in Connecticut,” Palmer said. “But when I went to a practice, I was one of the biggest guys there. They thought I was the new tackle. I didn’t think I was going to improve.”

So, Palmer said, Bill agreed to live alone in Boston while the family stayed in Laguna Niguel. (Bill and Danna Palmer have four children. Their daughter Jennifer, 23, is married and lives in Dana Point; oldest brother Robert, 32, and youngest Jordan, 13, live with Carson and their mother.) Bill flies back for games.

“We were two weeks from moving, waiting for my sister to get married,” Palmer said. “But my Dad would sacrifice anything for our family. He showed me what love is and what you have to do for it.”

Last season, he passed for 2,084 yards and 24 touchdowns (against six interceptions) in guiding Santa Margarita to a 13-1 record. The Eagles’ offense averaged 34.7 points and 397.8 yards.

“I never thought what I did was that hard, but people were telling me I was good,” Palmer said. “But I tried not to get caught up [in the praise]. Most of the pressure to perform was on Billy Newman [a running back now at Washington State].”

This season, Palmer and Santa Margarita have been even better. The Eagles are averaging 47.4 points and 437.2 yards.

The Eagles are stocked with exceptional offensive players. Among them are Bryant Wolfsberger, who has rushed for 1,562 yards and scored 26 touchdowns, and Minardi, who has caught 56 passes for 1,184 yards and scored 17 touchdowns. But Palmer has outshined them all.

Among his 1997 highlights:

--a school-record five touchdown passes (all in the first half) against Corona del Mar.

--a school-record 352 passing yards against Newport Harbor.

--a school-record 177 pass attempts without an interception before Woodbridge’s Justin Valentine picked one off in Week 9.

All this despite missing two full games at the beginning of the season because of a stress fracture in his left foot, and playing all four quarters only once--against Fountain Valley.

“I’m proud of what we’ve done,” he said. “But we’ve done it because we’re a good team. This team, I think, is better than last year’s. We had lost key players from last year, but we had plenty of people step up and fill spots.

“Last year was more competitive. More teams had younger players this [season], and it wasn’t quite as competitive. But Coach [Jim] Hartigan would not let us get complacent. And the seniors also watched over the team, making sure there was no letdown.”

Palmer said he has been flattered by the attention from colleges but the pressure to sign at times has been overwhelming. “You have to do homework and people are calling all the time. But I’m not complaining.”

Palmer said he would not chose a school until he takes his recruiting trips. That won’t happen until the Eagles’ season ends.

When he does leave Santa Margarita, Palmer will do so as the career leader in passing yardage (currently 3,978) and touchdown passes (49 and counting).

“His physical presence is impressive and so is his ability to throw the ball,” Hartigan said. “He is very accurate.

“What also stands out is his ability to make plays. He can turn a potential disaster into something special. Our one-back, four-receiver system is ideal for him. I didn’t tailor the offense for him, but I would have.”

Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley and his assistants are working hard to find a way to challenge Palmer and Santa Margarita. The Eagles have handled the Sailors in the last three meetings, winning last year’s league contest, 36-22, last year’s division title game, 38-0, and this year’s Sea View League meeting, 45-6.

“Everyone agrees that [Palmer] is a big-time talent,” Brinkley said. “The last time we played, he scrambled two to three times and he still threw downfield for touchdowns. What also makes them so tough is they run the ball well and he throws to all of their receivers. You have to defend everybody.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Featured Game

SANTA MARGARITA VS. NEWPORT HARBOR

When: 7:30 tonight.

Where: Newport Harbor High.

Records: Santa Margarita (12-0); Newport Harbor (10-2).

Rankings: Santa Margarita is No. 2; Newport Harbor is unranked.

Noteworthy: In spite of being outscored, 119-28, in their last three meetings against the Eagles, the Sailors can pull off the upset if they play mistake-free and can control the clock with their running game.