ORANGE COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL : Miscues Help Mater Dei Roll, 33-7

It must have been frustrating for Oceanside High School to accomplish what it set out to do before the game--contain Mater Dei quarterback Mark Ramstack--and still lose, 33-7, on its home field Friday night.

Mater Dei, the ninth-ranked team in Orange County, used running back Robert Clifford to pick up the yards on the ground that Ramstack usually gains through the air. Clifford rushed for 164 yards in 14 carries.

Ramstack completed only 10 of 25 passes for 126 yards. But when the senior did complete a pass, it usually came at an important time.

And it usually came after the Pirates had committed a penalty. Oceanside was penalized 9 times for 80 yards in the first half alone. But what hurt Oceanside was that those penalties or fumbles led to each of the Monarchs’ four, first-half scoring drives.

Vista had thrown only one pass against Oceanside last Friday. So Coach Roy Scaffidi was naturally worried about how his team would play against Ramstack, who completed 14 of 17 passes for 193 yards against Fountain Valley the previous week.

After the Monarchs’ first series of plays, the concern seemed unfounded. Ramstack threw incomplete on his first two passes. Clifford looked to be the player who Scaffidi should have prepared his defense to stop.

On the Monarchs’ third play, Clifford ran 58 yards to the Pirates’ eight-yard line.

But Mater Dei was not to score. Ramstack was hit as he attempted to pass and reserve defensive back Dwayne Wilson picked the pass off at the five-yard line and ran 95 yards for a touchdown with 8:17 to play in the first quarter.

The Monarchs came back and drove 78 yards to tie the score. Ramstack capped the drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Tony Pena.

But, Mater Dei might never have scored if the Pirates hadn’t been called for pass interference on the play before the touchdown. That gave Mater Dei 15 yards and a first down.

The Pirates’ Greg Frazier fumbled on the first play after the kickoff. One play later, Ramstack floated a 25-yard pass over the head of an Oceanside defender in the corner of the end zone, Keith Labus catching the ball over his shoulder for the touchdown.

Again, the Pirates’ Ken Aukuso fumbled on the first play after the kickoff. Again, Labus scored on the next play. This time, he took a pitch and ran it in from eight yards out on the last play of the first quarter.

Mater Dei added a 34-yard field goal by Mike Amman before halftime. That was set up when the Monarchs were awarded a first down after Oceanside was penalized as Mater Dei was punting.