Eagles 7 - Mater Dei 6
SANTA ANA, CA., October 10, 2025 – Eagles upset mater dei for first victory in rivalry since 2013. In an intense, spirited and taut gridiron battle, Santa Margarita Catholic High School (SMCHS) delivered an enormous blow to Trinity League rival Mater Dei as they fashioned a narrow 7-6 victory over the highly touted and nationally ranked Monarchs. In a game that came down to the performances of the two schools’ robust defenses, the Eagles earned the win with explosive and timely plays by the offense in the second half, specifically in the latter half the fourth quarter. The offensive statistics weren’t flashy but effective.
- Trent Mosley: 8 pass receptions for 56 yards (7.0 average) and one touchdown - on a rush, from the wildcat formation
- Trace Johnson: 174 yards passing
- Jaion “Duce” Smith: Key 41-yard pass reception
- Adrian Petero: Significant 59-yard pass reception on scoring drive
- Tyler Wiegand: Game-winning PAT conversion kick after low snap
- Dash Fifita: 10 total tackles
- Leki Holani: 15 total tackles
- Vai Manutai: 1 sack
- Siua Holani: 1 interception
Other Notes
- Trent Mosley established a new school record for pass receptions in a career. The dynamic senior now has 184 with several games yet to be played in 2025. He broke the record of 178 held by Brian Finneran since 1993.
- It was SMCHS’s first triumph over the Monarchs since October 25, 2013. On that night, it was the Harry Welch-led Eagles that prevailed 16-7 on the Monarchs’ home field, the Santa Ana Bowl. Since then, it had been 11 losses in a row.
- This marked the first time the Monarchs have lost more than one game in a season since 2015 when they were 10-3.
- From 2016 through 2024, Mater Dei sported a cumulative record of 109-5 (95.6 winning percentage) -- all five losses coming at the hands of their archrivals, St. John Bosco.
- SMCHS defeated a national top-5 team for the second time this season under first-year head coach Carson Palmer. Previously, they handed Centennial (Corona) their only setback.
- The last time the Eagles won a game while scoring single-digit points was in 2006 when they snuck-by Foothill (Santa Ana), 7-6 at Saddleback College.
- SMCHS turned the tables from the 2004 season when the Monarchs won by the identical score of 7-6 at Saddleback College.
- Mater Dei was shutout 28-0 at St. John Bosco on October 13, 2023. Prior to that, the 7-points scored versus the Eagles in 2013 was their low in a non-shutout game until this contest.
- SMCHS has limited the opposition to one offensive touchdown in three-consecutive games and four overall. Three of those four opponents are ranked in the top-25 nationally.
| Santa Margarita | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Mater Dei | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
MD – Dixon-Wyatt 10 pass from Hopkins (Enriquez run failed)
SM – T. Mosley 1 run (Wiegand kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Ja. Smith 9-28, Petero 7-14; MD - Lewis 11-50;
Passing: SM - Johnson 13-20-1-174; MD - Hopkins 13-25-1-99;
Receiving: SM - T. Mosley 8-56, Ja. Smith 2-43, Petero 1-59; MD - Parnell 5-31;
Summary by Chuck Nan
Statistics by Shane Mielke
Led by tough defense, Santa Margarita football knocks off No. 1 Mater Dei
SANTA ANA, CA., October 10, 2025 – Both offenses were struggling. So defense was going to win this football game.
Santa Margarita’s defense was better than Mater Dei’s by just enough to get the Eagles a 7-6 win over the Monarchs on Friday in a Trinity League football game at Santa Ana Stadium.
It is Santa Margarita’s first varsity football win over Mater Dei since a 16-7 win over the Monarchs in 2013.
Mater Dei led 6-0 at halftime. The Monarchs in the second half were stopped on fourth down twice, punted once and another possession ended on an interception by Santa Margarita’s Siua Holani.
Santa Margarita got its touchdown with 5:06 remaining in the game on a 1-yard run by Trent Mosley, a receiver who lined up to take the direct snap before bolting around the left side of the line and into the end zone.
Tyler Wiegand kicked the extra point for the 7-6 lead. Eagles quarterback Trace Johnson was the holder on the kick, and pulled up the low snap to square it up just before Wiegand’s foot came swinging into the ball.
Santa Margarita, No. 3 in the Orange County Top 25, is 5-2 overall and 2-0 in league including a 17-7 win over Servite last week at Santa Ana Stadium. Orange County No. 1 Mater Dei is 4-2 overall and 1-1 in league including a 25-10 win over Orange Lutheran last week.
Mosley, a senior committed to USC and a two-time All-Orange County first-team selection, had not played since the season opener because of a foot injury.
He was relieved to play again and to get the win, and to get into the end zone in his first game back.
“It felt great,” Mosley said. “We really needed it. Good play call, good blocking by our O-line got me in there.”
Santa Margarita first-year coach Carson Palmer praised the Eagles defensive players and the team’s defensive coordinator Steve Fifita.
“Steve’s phenomenal,” Palmer said of Fifita, the Santa Margarita interim coach last year. “He coaches them with so much passion and they play with that passion.
“It’s a senior-heavy group. Some incredible players, some incredible leaders. The way they play is inspiring.”
Mater Dei’s coaching staff might be spending the weekend second-guessing its decision to go for two points on the Monarchs’ only touchdown, a running play for no gain that kept their lead to 6-0.
The Monarchs put together a 17-play, 91-yard drive that consumed 10 minutes and 4 seconds from the end of the first quarter and well into the second. Mater Dei quarterback Ryan Hopkins fired the ball to the left side of the end zone where receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt reached above his head to pull in the pass for the touchdown. Mater Dei went for two points, but Nathan Enriquez, who took the direct snap, was stopped at the 2-yard line, leaving the Monarchs with a 6-0 lead.
Santa Margarita had a fine opportunity in the first quarter after recovering a muffed punt return attempt at the Mater Dei 28-yard line. The Eagles, though, would fumble the ball away four plays later at the Mater Dei 9-yard line. Mater Dei went on its touchdown drive from there.
Mater Dei’s defensive effort included two interceptions by CJ Lavender, his third and fourth interceptions this season.
Mater Dei’s next game is a league game against Servite at Santa Ana Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Santa Margarita plays St. John Bosco on Friday, Oct. 17, in a league game at Trabuco Hills High.
By Steve Fryer
Friday, October 10, 2025
The Orange County Register
