It’sa Night to Remember for Mater Dei : Monarchs Rally to Defeat Rival Servite for First Time Since 1981, 27-25

A good half-hour had passed since Mater Dei High School had completed its stunning 27-25 victory over Servite before the Monarch fans finally began to file out of Santa Ana Stadium Thursday night.

They lingered in the bleachers and on the field, screaming and whooping it up, enjoying the taste of an Angelus League victory over their longtime rivals. And when the lights went out, they continued their celebration in the parking lot for another half-hour with a symphony of car horns.

It had been four years since Mater Dei football fans had experienced such a feeling. The Monarchs hadn’t beaten the Friars since 1981.

And their fans acted as if they didn’t want the moment to end.

Not to worry. It will be a while before they forget Tim Haider’s game-saving tackle on Servite’s Derek Noggle to prevent a two-point conversion that would have tied the game for the Friars with 54 seconds remaining.

Or the performance given by their sophomore quarterback, Todd Marinovich, who completed 17 of 28 passes for 272 yards and 4 touchdowns to help the Monarchs erase a 12-0 halftime deficit.

Or the performance of Mater Dei receiver Paul Cardenas, who caught 9 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns and continually burned one of the most respected defensive secondaries in Orange County.

Or the courageous play of Mater Dei’s defense, which allowed Servite quarterback Tim Rosenkranz to pass for 268 yards but sacked him five times and came up with the big play when it needed it.

“Leo Hand (the Servite coach) said that the emotions would die after 10 plays, but it lasted the whole game for us,” said Marinovich, who led the Monarchs on a 63-yard scoring drive early in the fourth period that gave Mater Dei a 27-19 lead.

“It seemed like we wanted it more than they did. We were psyched. We had the emotion.”

Mater Dei had the ball on its 15-yard line and the eight-point lead with 4:06 left, but a running play by Charles Anton, making his first appearance since knee surgery five weeks ago, gained nothing. Marinovich then threw two incomplete passes.

On the ensuing punt, the Monarchs committed a face-mask penalty on the return, giving the Friars a first down on the Monarch 35 with 2:48 left.

Six plays later, on third-and-10 from the 21, Rosenkranz hit Nick-John Haiduc over the middle for a 20-yard gain, and Brian Booker covered the final yard for the touchdown with 54 seconds left.

Rosenkranz hit Noggle on the two-point conversion pass out of the backfield, but Noggle was slammed down at the 1-yard line by Haider. Servite’s on-side kick failed to travel 10 yards, as the Monarchs took over and ran out the clock.

That put an end to a wild game that saw top-ranked Servite twice blow leads of 12 points. The 9,000 fans in attendance also saw two outstanding individual performances by Rosenkranz and Fieldhouse, who caught 12 passes for 152 yards and 3 touchdowns.

With his 268-yard game, Rosenkranz increased his season yardage total to 2,289 yards, which broke Steve Beuerlein’s single-season Servite passing record of 2,244 yards, set in 1982.

Rosenkranz also moved into fifth place on Orange County’s all-time, single-season passing list, surpassing El Modena’s Brett Johnson, who threw for 2,276 yards last year.

Rosenkranz had the Friars off to a 12-0 lead after two long scoring drives in the first half. Servite went 99 yards for a touchdown and a 12-0 halftime lead on a drive that was vintage Servite.

Four running plays moved the ball out to the 10-yard line and, after an incomplete pass, Rosenkranz connected on seven straight passes, including a 12-yard touchdown throw to Fieldhouse, who didn’t have a Mater Dei defender within 10 yards of him when he caught the ball.

Rosenkranz completed three passes to Fieldhouse for 42 yards on the drive and two to Brian Moriarty for 33 yards, including a 28-yarder down the left sideline that gave Servite a first down on the Mater Dei 12. Rosenkranz went to Fieldhouse for the touchdown on the next play, but his pass for a two-point conversion fell incomplete.

The Friars drove 62 yards in 9 plays for their first touchdown, a 5-yard pass from Rosenkranz to Fieldhouse. Noggle had key runs of 29 and 9 yards to prolong the drive.

Mater Dei finally scored in the third quarter when Marinovich hit Cardenas over the middle from his own 36-yard line. Cardenas slipped through the Servite secondary before racing 64 yards for the score. Gary Coston kicked his first of three extra points to cut the lead to 12-7.

Servite made it 19-7 when Rosenkranz connected with Fieldhouse on a 31-yard scoring pass with 6:44 left in the third, but the Monarchs came right back.

Again, it was Marinovich and Cardenas again, as this time the receiver sprinted up the right sideline to beat Servite’s John Digiambattista for a 29-yard touchdown play that made it 19-14.

Mater Dei took the lead (20-19) on Marinovich’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Cardenas on the last play of the third quarter and increased it to 27-20 when Marinovich found Carlos Prietto open in the right corner of the end zone from 16 yards out with 5:53 left before Servite made its final effort.

The win gives the Monarchs (3-2 in league, 7-3 overall) sole possession of second place in the Angelus league, while the Friars drop to 3-2 and 8-2. Mater Dei now leads its series with Servite, 13-11-1.

If St. Paul (2-2) should upset first-place Bishop Amat tonight to create a tie for third place, Servite would advance to the Big Five Conference playoffs as the league’s third team because of its 35-33 victory over the Swordsmen two weeks ago.

Ser--Fieldhouse 5 pass from Rosenkranz (kick failed)

Ser--Fieldhouse 12 pass from Rosenkranz (pass failed)

MD--Cardenas 64 pass from Marinovich (Coston kick)

Ser--Fieldhouse 31 pass from Rosenkranz (Wentz kick)

MD--Cardenas 29 pass from Marinovich (Coston kick)

MD--Cardenas 35 pass from Marinovich (pass failed)

MD--Prietto 16 pass from Marinovich (Coston kick)

Ser--Booker 9 run (pass failed)

Attendance--9,000 OC Single-Season Passing Leaders

Pos. Player (School) Year Yards 1. Jim Karsatos (Sunny Hills) 1980 2,703 2. Scott Stark (Capistrano Valley) 1985 2,442 3. Matt Stevens (Fountain Valley) 1980 2,374 4. Shane Foley (Newport Harbor) 1984 2,304 5. Tim Rosenkranz (Servite) 1985 2,289

Note: Stevens passed for his total in 14 games. Karsatos and Foley played in 13. Rosenkranz has played in 10 and Stark has played in nine.