Mater Dei 56 - Eagles 3
SANTA ANA, CA., October 15, 2021 – Santa Margarita continued its three-game road gauntlet versus the Trinity League’s giants with a trip to the Santa Ana Bowl to face No. 1 Mater Dei. The Eagles opened the game with a tricky wrinkle, as they were successful with an onside kick. The drive stalled and SMCHS settled for a 32-yard field goal by Jonathan Connor Teasley. Although the Eagles committed just one turnover, the stifling Monarch defense extinguished any chance of igniting offensive consistency. Lavar Talley was the lone bright spot for SMCHS as he played an outstanding game on defense -- logging five tackles (four for loss) and three sacks. Hero Kanu also chipped in with a sack. Romen Christensen had six punts for a 41.0 average and a long of 57 yards, but pinning the Monarchs deep didn’t matter with their potent arsenal. The Eagles come home to Saddleback College now for two home games to finish out the regular season, first hosting No. 2 St. John Bosco and then Orange Lutheran. SMCHS would like to get at least one more win under their belt to ensure a berth in the CIF-SS playoffs, probably in Division 2.
| Mater Dei | 14 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 56 |
| Santa Margarita | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
SM – Teasley 32 FG
MD – Barkate 68 pass from E. Brown (Meyer kick)
MD – Williams 9 pass from E. Brown (Meyer kick)
MD – Craig 1 run (Meyer kick)
MD – Barkate 28 pass from E. Brown (Meyer kick)
MD – E. Brown 1 run (Meyer kick)
MD – Barkate 1 pass from E. Brown (Meyer kick)
MD – Shannon 39 pass from E. Brown (Meyer kick)
MD – Vaca 5 run (Burrell kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: MD - Bryan 4-83, R. Brown 5-40; SM - Foye 9-27, Rivera 3-3
Passing: MD - Brown 20-25-0-328; SM - Potter 15-40-0-62
Receiving: MD - Barkate 3- 97, Williams 7-90; SM - Jones 3-22, Gallegos 4-20
Summary by Chuck Nan
Statistics by Shane Mielke
Mater Dei football smashes through Santa Margarita despite a few distractions
QB Elijah Brown tosses five TD passes as the Monarchs improve to 6-0 overall
SANTA ANA – Mater Dei’s football team demonstrated once again that it is the team to beat in the Trinity League, as it rolled to another lopsided win Friday night.
The Monarchs shook off early miscues to defeat Santa Margarita 56-3 in a league game at Santa Ana Stadium.
The win for Mater Dei came in its homecoming game and in its last test before facing Servite, ranked in the top 10 in several national polls, on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson attributed the early mistakes to homecoming distractions.
“There’s a lot of activity at Mater Dei on homecoming,” Rollinson said. “We had great, spirited rallies today and I think we were a little distracted, but they did everything I asked them to do. Nobody got hurt tonight and we are 100% healthy going into the Servite game.”
Quarterback Elijah Brown completed 20 of 25 passes for 328 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown. Cooper Barkate caught three passes, all of them for touchdowns, for 97 yards.
The game began positively for Santa Margarita (5-3, 1-2). The Eagles opened the game by recovering an onside kick to set up their first offensive possession at the Mater Dei 45-yard line.
Nine plays later, Jonathan Teasley converted a 32-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Eagles quarterback Jaxon Potter completed 13 of 38 passes for 61 yards while Jake Foye had 23 yards rushing on eight carries.
Santa Margarita’s Hero Kanu and Seth Walz-Jones had one sack each, and LeVar Talley had two.
The early miscues for Mater Dei (6-0, 3-0) included three low snaps as well as two runs and a pass play for losses.
Brown and the Monarchs passing attack jump-started the offense.
Brown completed his first 13 passes, three for touchdowns. He hit Barkate for a 68-yard touchdown and then found C.J. Williams in the center of the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown pass on the Monarchs’ second drive, giving Mater Dei a 14-3 lead.
Mater Dei scored on its next two possessions — a 1-yard Quincy Craig run and a 28-yard Brown-to-Barkate connection — for a 28-3 lead.
Brown added a 1-yard touchdown run and completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Barkate for a 42-3 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, Brown found Spencer Shannon for his fifth touchdown pass of the game. The 39-yard scoring pass gave Mater Dei a 49-3 lead.
The Monarchs finished their scoring with a 5-yard Matthew Vaca run with a minute left in the game.
The lopsided defeat was a blow to Santa Margarita’s playoff hopes. The Eagles are fourth in the Trinity League standings, behind Mater Dei (3-0 in league), Servite (3-0) and St. John Bosco (2-1). The top three finishers in league receive automatic berths in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
Santa Margarita, which entered Friday’s game ranked No. 8 in the CIF-SS by Calpreps, could receive an at-large berth to the playoffs, but it will need to keep its ranking high. The Eagles finish the regular season with games against St. John Bosco (Oct. 22) and Orange Lutheran (Oct. 29), which is 0-3 in league after a loss to St. John Bosco on Friday night.
By Anthony Ciardelli
Friday, October 15, 2021
The Orange County Register
