Mater Dei 21 - Eagles 7
FULLERTON, CA., November 14, 2003 – Mater Dei rebounded from three consecutive losses to the Eagles by posting a 21-7 win over their rivals before a crowd of 6,000 at Cal State Fullerton. The win improved the Monarchs to 6-4 and gave them a share of the Serra League title with Loyola. The Eagles fell to 7-3 and finished tied for third in league with a 2-3 mark, but still qualified as an at large team in the CIF Division I playoffs which begin this week.
The first few possessions were a series of punts, turnovers and overall
sloppy play as Mater Dei gained 21 yards and the Eagles 44 of their own
as the first quarter ended scoreless. Two interceptions by Jesse Mier
of Mater Dei on the opening two Eagle drives gave the crowd something
to cheer about, but neither led to any points. A fumble recovery by Jack
Meehan stopped the Monarch’s third drive of the quarter, but it
didn’t give the visitors any momentum either. On Mater Dei’s
first possession of the second quarter they marched 55 yards on six plays
capped by an eight-yard run by quarterback Jason Forcier to make it 7-0
at the 9:47 mark. After forcing an Eagle punt, the Monarchs used 5:13
to go 71 yards on nine plays to go up 14-0 when Rick Russell scored from
five yards out with 2:36 left in the half. The Eagles drove to the Monarch
38 on their next possession; however, a fourth down pass from Michael
Angelo to Mark Restelli with 0:13 seconds left fell incomplete.
Mater Dei went on a 67-yard drive to start the third quarter and
increased their lead to 21-0 when Justin Guzman scored from a
yard out at the 4:21 mark. The Eagles allowed only one first down
the rest of the game, but the offense had difficulty moving the
ball with any consistency to mount any threat. The Monarchs forced
punts on the Eagles next three possessions before Angelo (53 yards
rushing, 14 of 23 for 148 passing) scored on a two-yard touchdown
run to make it 21-7 with 3:28 remaining to close out the scoring.
Meehan once again spearheaded the Eagles’ defensive effort as he contributed 11 tackles while Matt Rupp chipped in nine and his 10th sack of the season. Wide receiver/free safety Ryan Nienhuis caught a career-high six passes for 73 yards to lead the offense and added nine tackles of his own.
| Mater Dei | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Santa Margarita | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
MD – Forcier 8 run (kick good)
MD – Russell 5 run (kick good)
MD – Guzman 1 run (kick good)
SM – Angelo 2 run (kick good)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Angelo 53; MD - Forcier 16-108, Guzman 14-80
Passing: SM - Angelo 14-23-148; MD - Forcier 5-7-73
Receiving: –
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
Monarchs rule
Mater Dei earns a share of the Serra League title with a 21-7 victory
FULLERTON – It is hard to believe, now, that Mater Dei started this season 0-3.
The Monarchs are Serra League co-champions after winning their third game in a row and sixth of their last seven with a 21-7 victory over Santa Margarita on Friday night at Cal State Fullerton.
Because Mater Dei (6-4 overall, 4-1 in league) lost to Loyola of Los Angeles, Mater Dei will go to the playoffs as the league's No. 2 representative in CIF-Southern Section Division I. Loyola (7-3, 4-1), which beat Mater Dei in overtime three weeks ago, will go as No. 1.
Santa Margarita (7-3, 2-3) finished fourth in the Serra League. The Eagles will receive one of the four at-large berths in Division I when at-large teams, seedings and first-round pairings are announced Sunday.
Mater Dei, ranked No. 8 in Orange County, held fourth-ranked Santa Margarita to 129 yards passing and 58 rushing, and shut out the Eagles until 3:28 was left.
"The last thing I told the team before this game," Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said, "was, if they wanted to be league champs, they had to go out and play some defense."
Mater Dei's offense was not spectacular, but effective. Junior quarterback Jason Forcier rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, and completed 5 of 7 passes for 73 yards without an interception. Senior running back Justin Guzman rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Junior running back Rick Russell scored the Monarchs' other touchdown.
Senior linebacker Ray Andong said the Monarchs had a steady, rather than dramatic, turnaround after losing its first three games, which were all to teams that are still undefeated and ranked in the state top 10: Mission Viejo, Orange Lutheran and J.W. North of Riverside.
"We played good teams," Andong said. "But that's no excuse. We just didn't play to our potential at all.
"Now, you can see that we've got it turned around."
Part of Mater Dei's plan was to confuse Santa Margarita quarterback Michael Angelo, and the plan worked. Angelo was intercepted on each of his first two passes by Mater Dei's Robert Mier.
Mater Dei didn't convert either turnover into points, but the Monarchs were able to score early in the second quarter on an 8-yard run by Forcier for a 7-0 lead.
The Monarchs scored on their next possession, with Russell scoring on a 5-yard run.
Santa Margarita's deepest penetration in the first half was to Mater Dei's 38, where the Eagles attempt to convert on fourth down was unsuccessful with 13 seconds left in the half.
Mater Dei scored its final touchdown with 4:21 left in the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Guzman.
The Eagles scored with 3:28 remaining on a 2-yard run by Angelo.
By Steve Fryer
Saturday, November 15, 2003
The Orange County Register - HS1
