Santa Ana Mater Dei leads Corona Centennial, 13-7, at halftime

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On the back of two one-yard touchdown runs by junior fullback JC Genova, Santa Ana Mater Dei leads Corona Centennial, 13-7, at halftime at Santa Ana Stadium.

Genova scored the first of those touchdowns with 6 minutes, 39 seconds in the first quarter after Centennial punter Bijan Dastmalchian muffed the snap deep in his own territory on fourth down, putting the Monarchs in business.

A few plays later, Genova punched it in from the one-yard line, giving Mater Dei the lead.

Centennial struck back later on with a 12-play, 96-yard drive that senior running back Romello Goodman finished with a two-yard touchdown run with 0.3 seconds left in the first quarter to tie the game.

Genova gave the lead back to the Monarchs with another one-yard run with 7:04 left in the first quarter, capping a seven-play, 45-yard drive. The extra point was wide left, so the score was 13-7.

A Centennial field goal was blocked shortly before halftime.

Mater Dei running back Freddie Mora has nine carries for 53 yards and running back Aaron Hawkins has five carries for 39 yards. Monarchs quarterback Ryan McMahon is 5-of-9 for 76 yards, 62 of those to receiver Thomas Duarte, who has three catches.

Centennial quarterback Hayden Gavett is 3-of-8 for 27 yards and has five rushes for 53 yards. Goodman has 12 carries for 50 yards.

-- Baxter Holmes