Mater Dei 35 - Eagles 19
Santa Ana, CA., October 27, 2023 – Santa Margarita Catholic was on the road for the third-consecutive week, closing out the Trinity League regular season. The task at hand was to face another one of the top-5 ranked schools in the nation -- Mater Dei. The Eagles ultimately fell to the Monarchs, 35-19. However, SMCHS extended MD all the way as they trailed just 21-19 with approximately five minutes remaining in the contest. Two-straight quarterback sacks by MD extinguished any chance of an SMCHS game-winning drive.
Overall, the Eagles could only muster 254 yards of offense (214 passing and 40 rushing), but made the most of it as they scrapped along for three quarters and made the game to come down to just one quarter of play (4th). The defense played fierce and stood toe-to-toe with one of the most talented schools in America.
John Gazzaniga was 21-of-41 (51.2%) for 214 yards and threw two touchdown passes. Skylar Lendsey, also a running back, scored the other SMCHS touchdown, also on a pass play of 13-yards. On the ground, the sophomore wrestled for 37 yards as the team was able to only gather 1.6 per attempt. Izley Manutai collected four receptions for 58 yards (14.5 average).
Trent Mosley snagged a career-high 13 pass receptions for 116 yards (8.9 average) and scored one touchdown. Overall, it was his twenty-fifth time reaching the end zone this season. Mosley also collected his fifth game with 100-or-more yards receiving and his third-consecutive game with 10-or-more receptions. In that three-game span, he has 35 catches for 567 yards (15.8 average) and five scores via the air.
- 13 receptions is a new career-high and tied for third all-time in school history for a single game
- 75 receptions for the season places Mosley in the top-10 in that category all-time in school history
- 1,094 pass reception yards is now top-5 all-time in school history for a single season. Mosley is just the fifth player (achieved six times) to pass the 1,000-yard threshold
- 25 total touchdowns scored now places Mosley in a four-way tie for second all-time in school history for a single season. The school record is 28, held by two players
Most Receiving Yards - Season |
||
| Player | Season | Yards |
| John Minardi | 1997 | 1,469 |
| Kyle Sweet | 2014 | 1,341 |
| Mike O’Gorman | 1998 | 1,144 |
| Brian Finneran | 1992 | 1,141 |
| Trent Mosley | 2023 | 1,094 |
| John Minardi | 1996 | 1,040 |
Trent Mosley |
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| Opponent | Rush | Rec | Kick Rets |
All Purpose |
Total Offense |
TDs Scored |
Touches Average Per (AP) |
| @ JSerra Catholic | 87 | 230 | 108 | 425 | 317 | 4 | 24 / 17.8 |
| @ Servite | 16 | 221 | 114 | 351 | 237 | 4 | 20 / 17.6 |
| @ Mater Dei | 0 | 116 | 0 | 116 | 116 | 1 | 13 / 8.9 |
| Grand Totals | 103 | 567 | 222 | 892 | 670 | 9 | 57 / 15.7 |
On the other side of the ball, sophomore defensive lineman Jason Perez registered his first career sack. Another sophomore, Trey Brown, contributed from his cornerback position as he defended three passes and nearly collected an interception. Noah Sulick led tacklers with 11. It was the fifth times this season he reached double-digits in that category.
Kicker Ryan Gass continued to show confidence as he was a perfect 2-for-2 on field goal attempts, coming from 27 and 33 yards out.
| Mater Dei | 7 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 35 |
| Santa Margarita | 0 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 19 |
MD – R. Davis 21 fumble return (Zante kick)
MD – Bryant 9 run (Zante kick)
SM – Mosley 24 pass from Gazzaniga (Gass kick)
MD – Frazier 2 run (Zante kick)
SM – Lendsey 14 pass from Gazzaniga (run failed)
SM – Gass 33 FG
SM – Gass 27 FG
MD – Frazier 48 run (Zante kick)
MD – J. Davis 14 interception return (Zante kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Lendsey 16-37; MD - Frazier 16-130;
Passing: SM - Gazzaniga 21-41-1-214; MD - Brown 15-21-0-141;
Receiving: SM - Mosley 13-116, I. Manutai 4-57; MD - Harris 4-37, Brown 4-48;
Summary by Chuck Nan
Statistics by Shane Mielke
Football roundup: JSerra crushes Servite; San Clemente, Laguna Beach, Troy earn big wins in Week 10
In other games Friday:
Mater Dei 35, Santa Margarita 19: Ramere Davis and Jeilani Davis each recorded defensive touchdowns for Mater Dei in its Trinity League win over Santa Margarita.
The Monarchs (9-1, 4-1) had three rushing touchdowns in the win.
Ramere Davis recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown to give the Monarchs a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. After a Zabien Brown interception, Ajon Bryant ran for a touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0 in the second quarter. Nathaniel Frazier also had a touchdown run in the first half for the Monarchs.
Santa Margarita (5-5, 1-4) cut the lead to 21-13 at halftime with two touchdown passes from John Gazzaniga to Trent Mosley and Skylar Lendsey.
Ryan Gass made two field goals for the Eagles to cut the lead to 21-19, but then Frazier broke free for a 48-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-19.
Jeilani Davis returned an interception for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
By Steve Fryer & Michael Huntley
Saturday, October 28, 2023, 2023
The Orange County Register
