ORANGE COUNTY PREP SATURDAY : Mater Dei and Ramstack Pass Test : Fountain Valley Falls to New Quarterback, Tough Defense

Chuck Gallo, Mater Dei High School football coach, has said so much for so long about the talents of quarterback Mark Ramstack that it seemed sort of fitting that he should give it the big “So what?” when the senior quarterback turned out to be everything and more.

“I’ve been telling you guys about him for so long that I got tired of it,” Gallo said. “I figured I’d just let you watch what he could do . . . I’m not surprised.”

Ramstack completed 14 of 17 passes for 193 yards and 3 touchdowns to help Mater Dei to a 34-6 victory over Fountain Valley Friday night in Santa Ana Stadium in front of 5,000.

Emphasize the word helped, because the game belonged just as much to the Mater Dei defense that contained a highly touted Fountain Valley offense. Fountain Valley quarterback David Henigan was sacked four times and Mater Dei had three interceptions, one that was returned 28 yards by defensive back Greg Shockey for a touchdown.

But it’s Ramstack who has been a favorite subject of Gallo’s for nearly two years. His considerable athletic talent--he’ll start at point guard on the Monarch basketball team--and his 6-foot 3-inch, 190-pound frame screamed about potential. But could he play quarterback?

Ramstack served as understudy to Mike Curtius last season. He got playing time toward the end of last season, but this was to be his first real test--against a team many figure will contend for the Sunset League championship--with the position all his.

He passed.

The first pass he completed went for a 40-yard reception to Keith Labus. Actually, the pass should have been a 60-yard touchdown pass play, Labus was 10 yards behind Fountain Valley defenders, but an overzealous Monarch player clipped as Labus was going in and the play was called back to the Fountain Valley 30.

Two plays later, Ramstack threw an eight-yard pass to Labus for a touchdown. Ramstack and Labus combined for three touchdowns, also combining on scoring passes of three and five yards.

Labus caught 7 passes from Ramstack for 111 yards. In one stretch, spanning the first to the third quarter, Ramstack completed 10 straight passes.

But then everyone in Mater Dei uniform seemed to be having a good game. There were Shockey’s interception, nose guard Lua Pola’s three sacks. Things were going so well that when Robby Smith bobbled the snap on a field goal attempt in the third quarter, it turned into a 15-yard pass for a touchdown to Mike Kelly who was just hanging around the end zone.

“Mark did have a great game, but so did the defense, so did the special teams,” Gallo said. “I thought our defense was really the story of this game. They played like Mater Dei used to play defense.”

Gallo was referring to Mater Dei’s lackluster defensive performance last season, when the Monarchs were known for giving up big points.