Mater Dei’s playmakers fizzled, Lutheran’s sizzled

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Oh man, it’s easy to be seduced by your success. Bruce Rollinson, coach of top-ranked Mater Dei, was worried about that all week. He told me heading into the Monarchs’ game Friday against Orange Lutheran that the Lancers -- and not his Monarchs -- had the psychological edge.

‘No matter what, when you’re sitting up there on that wire with all the accolades and the press, it’s tough to stay there,’ said Rollinson, pictured left. ‘That responsibility falls into my lap, to have my kids mentally ready for a full-blown Trinity League classic.’

Rollo may be too hard on himself because he also said, ‘At some point, you have to turn it over to your players and say, ‘Deal with it, make plays.’ ‘ And that, too, is true.

But that didn’t happen. Mater Dei drove on Lutheran early, but receiver Carlo Valdes fumbled at the 16 after a 15-yard reception. Then Matt Barkley threw an interception on the second play of his team’s second possession. Then the offensive line gave up its first sack of Barkley on third down on its third possession. Then it was four-and-out. On the first possession of the second half, Barkley was picked again.

Meanwhile, Blake Ayles and Blake Hyepock made plays on offense for Orange Lutheran, and Ayles and everyone else was making plays on defense.

‘We spent the last five practice days designing coverages and ways to maybe take Ayles and slow him down, and obviously that didn’t work,’ Rollinson said. ‘There were times the kid (Hyepock) made perfect passes and (Ayles) made great catches. That’s the difference. Great players do great things. My good players didn’t play good, and my great players didn’t make great plays.’

-- Martin Henderson

-- Image by Christine Cotter/Los Angeles Times