Mater Dei 21 - Eagles 14
Mater Dei’s quick defense holds its ground
SANTA ANA, CA., October 13, 2011 – The low man wins. As long as he doesn’t forget to get back up.
Mater Dei braved the giants from Santa Margarita and pulled off a 21-14 victory Thursday night that will be called an upset by those who only judge proficiency by numbers.
The Monarchs started out 0-3 and are now 3-3. But defensive coordinator Eric Johnson begged to differ.
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“We’re 1-0,” he said, “in the Trinity League.”
It’s the league that keeps you humble but also keeps you hopeful, because if you can survive it you can win on any given Friday, or Thursday.
The Monarchs ran a gantlet of Carson, Centennial of Corona and San Clemente in the first three games and lost them all in either the fourth quarter or overtime.
“They were three plays from 3-0,” Santa Margarita coach Harry Welch said.
They made far more than three plays here, bursting to a 13-0 lead, falling behind, 14-13, and then putting together a 55-yard touchdown drive and a 2-point pass from Ryan McMahon to Rick Ortiz, who was as open as a stranded astronaut.
“We had practiced that all week,” Ortiz said. “I thought it might work. It seemed like hours before the ball got to me.”
Mater Dei still had to stop the Eagles twice more, but that had not been a problem. Santa Margarita had averaged 41 points in its five victories but scored only one offensive touchdown here with 202 net yards.
The Monarchs were Lilliputians in the trench, compared to what the Eagles brought, but quickness usually wins.
“They’re strong, I’m not going to lie,” Ortiz said. “But we kept executing our assignments.”
“We got low and stayed low,” Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said. “We jammed them, stood up to them. And we got pressure.
“In the early games, our kids sometimes would start fishing and going places they shouldn’t. Tonight they took care of their jobs.”
Johnson has brought surprises out of his film room before.
“We just had to stop the run,” he said quietly. “If we did that and kept them from running the option, then we had a chance. Ortiz is our big play guy on D and he kept coming up with big ones.
“Sure, it’s been tough, but I always look at those as preseason games. And it’s never how you start, it’s how you finish.”
Still, it wasn’t assured that Mater Dei’s defensive guys could see over, under or through Santa Margarita’s line, much less find a ballcarrier.
Max Tuerk (6-foot-6, 296) is committed to USC next year. Riley Sorenson (6-5, 316) and Erik Bunte (6-7, 301) will probably get offers as well, but they are juniors.
Dane Crane (6-3, 295) is the junior center and then there is Cole Luther (6-0, 286), the featherweight of the group.
They pull, they move and they have defied any defensive solution so far this season, until Thursday.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” said a prophetic Welch on Wednesday night.
“But they’re athletic, they’re smart and they’ve really come a long way in a short period of time.
“We were reconstructing our weight room when I got the job (in 2010) and we didn’t really have much of a place to go. Some of the guys were driving 25 minutes to find a place to lift. Now we have a state of the art facility.”
Sorensen is nimble enough to play basketball for Jerry DeBusk’s distinguished program, but Welch said he could only bench-press 100 pounds at the beginning of last season. Now he’s well past 300.
The drill sergeant is offensive line coach Marty Spaulding, whose voice and demeanor come right out of Central Casting for offensive line coaches.
Spaulding was at Mission Viejo during the Mark Sanchez years. But he was reluctant to get back into the game until Welch called him.
“We had taught together back at Canyon High in the ’70s,” Welch said. “I found out he was available but he didn’t even want to consider it. He kept saying, ‘We won’t get along. It’ll never work. We’re too much alike.’
“But we had lunch in a place called Latte Dah and we finally agreed. It was great for us because I don’t know of a better guy anywhere.”
“That group over there will be right back in it next week,” Rollinson said, pointing at the Eagles, and with five Trinity powerhouses scrumming for three playoff spots, almost everybody is growing fingernails to stay in it.
Ortiz just shook his head.
“It’s been fun,” he said. “We came so close. But it’s fun knowing that you’re getting better every week. And it’s humbling.”
In other words, stay low. They can’t block what they overlook.
| Mater Dei | 7 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 21 |
| Santa Margarita | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
MD – McMahon 3 run (Parker kick)
MD – Cook 9 pass from McMahon (Parker kick failed)
SM – O'Brien 47 interception return (McGrory kick)
SM – Wolpin 1 run (McGrory kick)
MD – Genova 10 run (Ortiz pass from McMahon)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: MD - Coley 9-25, Genova 6-27; SM - Stanton 17-45, Wolpin 10-51
Passing: MD - McMahon 20-30-2-257; SM - Stanton 7-18-1-178
Receiving: MD - Duarte 7-90, Field 5-57; SM - Modster 2-35, Suchesk 2-20
By Mark Whicker
Saturday, October 14, 2011
The Orange County Register
Mater Dei topples Santa Margarita, 21-14
SANTA ANA, CA., October 13, 2011 – With a gravelly voice straight out of central casting, Santa Ana Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson knows how to play the underdog role to perfection. He had his players fired up Thursday night, particularly on defense, and the result was a 21-14 upset of previously unbeaten Santa Margarita in a Trinity League opener.
The Monarchs (3-3) sacked Santa Margarita quarterback Johnny Stanton five times, the last of which, by Thomas Duarte, ended the game on fourth down at the Santa Margarita 35. Linebacker Rick Ortiz had two of the sacks.
Santa Margarita (5-1) had come in ranked No. 2 by The Times. Mater Dei had lost its first three games, to Carson, Corona Centennial and San Clemente, after being unable to hold leads.
Once again, the Monarchs couldn’t hold a lead. Santa Margarita rallied from a 13-0 halftime deficit to move on top, 14-13, in the third quarter, scoring touchdowns on a 47-yard interception return by Connor O’Brien and a Ryan Wolpin one-yard run after a fumble recovery.
But quarterback Ryan McMahon engineered a 55-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter. JC Genova’s four-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion reception by Ortiz gave the Monarchs the lead for good with 4 minutes 13 seconds left.
McMahon, a junior, had his shaky moments, but he also showed resiliency and leadership. He completed 20 of 30 passes for 267 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.
“The kids were ready to play,” Rollinson said. “They bought into the game plan and stayed with the game plan. The big thing in a game like this is you’ve got to deal with the adversity. In the second half, two turnovers, they’re right back in it. This time, our defense stepped up.”
Added McMahon: “We owe our win to them.”
Mater Dei’s defense dominated in the first half in opening that 13-0 halftime advantage. Santa Margarita Coach Harry Welch does not like to have his team punt even once, yet the Eagles were forced into punting three times.
Stanton finished eight of 19 for 110 yards. Josh Cook had a nine-yard TD catch for Mater Dei.
By Eric Sondheimer
Friday, October 14, 2011
The Los Angeles Times
No. 6 Mater Dei shuts down No. 2 Santa Margarita
SANTA ANA, CA., October 13, 2011 – Santa Margarita went into the game undefeated, ranked second in Orange County and was averaging 41 points a game.
Sometimes, none of those facts matter when it's a Trinity League game.
Mater Dei upset Santa Margarita, 21-14, in the Trinity League opener for both teams Thursday at Santa Ana Stadium.
Mater Dei went into the game 2-3 and ranked No. 6 in the county. But in the CIF-Southern Section Pac-5 Division rankings, Mater Dei was not one of the four Trinity teams in the Pac-5 top 10, which also had Santa Margarita at No. 2. According to that Pac-5 poll, Mater Dei was judged to be the fifth-best team in the six-team Trinity League.
"We executed the game plan," Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said, "and I can't say enough about our defense."
That defense recorded five sacks, two each by Ricky Ortiz and Thomas Duarte, and gave up only one offensive touchdown. Santa Margarita quarterback Johnny Stanton threw for 78 yards, about half his average output a game, and Eagles running back Ryan Wolpin was limited to 51 rushing yards (26 of which came on one carry), 80 fewer than his per-game average.
Ortiz said Mater Dei did nothing fancy.
"We came out in our basic defense and played really well," Ortiz said. "We covered Wolpin, and we didn't let Stanton have the kind of running game he had against Los Al (when Stanton rushed for 161 yards)."
Mater Dei junior quarterback Ryan McMahon had perhaps his best game of the season. He completed 20 of 30 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown, and ran for a touchdown. He threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a Santa Margarita touchdown.
And it was another tough night for Santa Margarita at Santa Ana Stadium. The Eagles have not won there since 2001, and are 1-6 at "The Bowl," as some still call the venue.
Santa Margarita coach Harry Welch was disappointed, but in only one person.
"It's my responsibility as the head coach to get the team ready to play," Welch said. "It starts with Harry Welch, and we can't start blaming 16- and 17-year-old kids. I didn't do my job."
Mater Dei, which started 0-3, takes its three-game winning streak to St. John Bosco of Bellflower (4-1) next Friday in another league game.
Santa Margarita (5-1, 0-1) plays host to Orange Lutheran next Friday at Saddleback College. Lutheran (5-0) plays Servite (5-0) (4-1) tonight in the Trinity League opener for both; Bosco plays JSerra tonight.
The Monarchs had a 13-0 lead at halftime. Santa Margarita got all of its first points in the third quarter, first on a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown by Conner O'Brien, later on a 1-yard touchdown leap by Wolpin. That put the Eagles on top, 14-13, going into the fourth quarter.
The teams traded turnovers (they finished the game with three apiece) until Mater Dei put together a game-winning drive. Starting at the Mater Dei 15-yard line with 7:33 to go, McMahon connected with Jameson Field for 18 yards, then the Monarchs six consecutive running plays with JC Genova scoring on a 4-yard run. A pass from McMahon to Ortiz for the 2-point conversion gave Mater Dei its 21-14 lead with 4:13 remaining.
Santa Margarita's ensuing drive stalled at midfield, forcing the Eagles to punt. Mater Dei then went three-and-out, but a 50-yard punt by the Monarchs' Nick O'Toole forced Santa Margarita to start at its 20-yard line. The Eagles got a 25-yard completion from Stanton to O'Brien, but an intentional grounding call and a game-ending sack by Duarte ended the Santa Margarita comeback bid.
Mater Dei finished strong, and started strong, too. The Monarchs, after taking the opening kickoff, started at their 17-yard line and maneuvered into the end zone on seven plays with McMahon scoring on a 3-yard run. McMahon completed passes of 24, 26 and 9 yards to three different receivers on the drive and had an 18-yard run.
Late in the first quarter, Mater Dei's Peter Russo intercepted a Stanton pass at the Santa Margarita 27-yard line. A big third-down conversion – a 17-yard pass from McMahon to Josh Cook on third and 13 – led to a 9-yard touchdown pass from McMahon to Cook with 10:07 remaining in the second quarter. The extra-point kick was wide left, leaving the Monarchs with a 13-0 lead.
Mater Dei dominated that first half. The Monarchs tallied 10 first downs to Santa Margarita's four and had 223 yards of total offense to Santa Margarita's 58. McMahon was 12 for 14 in the half and completed passes to five different receivers.
By Steve Fryer
Friday, October 13, 2011
The Orange County Register
