Oceanside Holds On for 36-34 Victory Over Mater Dei After Leading, 36-7

Oh, what words can you use to describe Oceanside High School’s 36-34 victory over Mater Dei Thursday, at Santa Ana Stadium? Well, start with incredible, take a turn at ridiculous and continue right on through kooky and nutty and you’re traveling in the right direction.

In the first half, Oceanside runs a fast-break offense with quarterback Jerry Garrett at the point and, midway through the second quarter, leads 36-7.

Garrett set up in the pocket, he ran the wishbone, he kicked, he punted, he faked punts. He faked one punt in the first quarter and threw a 66-yard pass to Michael Coe for a touchdown.

To say the Pirates looked great to that point would be an insult. They looked a couple notches below divine. Garrett, a 15-year-old junior, threw for 217 yards in the first half. All told--throwing and kicking--Garrett accounted for 24 of Oceanside’s 36 points. He threw two passes for touchdowns and ran for another.

Now, fast forward and figure this one. Mater Dei ends up rallying, and with 18 seconds left, is a conversion pass away from a comeback somewhere in the league of Lazarus.

Danny O’Neil, Mater Dei’s junior quarterback, having the game of his two-game career, threw three passes for touchdowns in the fourth quarter, five in the game. His last, an 11-yarder to Dave Gonzalez, made the score 36-34.

On the two-point conversion attempt, O’Neil threw the ball to Tony Pena in the end zone. Pena tipped the ball up once, then a second time out to Mater Dei’s Chip Packard standing at about the 1 1/2. Packard made the reception and got to about the 1/2-yard line before he was stopped.

Mater Dei’s last gasp came about when Oceanside handed the Monarchs the ball after executing a bizarre fake punt attempt. Garrett was tackled on his own 20 and the ball went over on downs, and, two plays later, O’Neil threw the touchdown pass to Gonzalez.

In fact, Oceanside attempted to run the last 1:30 off the clock, but Garrett kept taking losses at midfield and Mater Dei kept calling time outs. It was very strange to see an Oceanside offense that had compiled nearly 300 yards in the first half just trying to get out of the game alive.

But such was the schizophrenic nature of this game. Garrett, who attempted 18 passes in the first half, threw just 4 in the second and completed none. Running back Sherman Crane, who rushed for 74 yards on eight carries, carried twice for zero.

Mater Dei, which gained just 37 yards in the first half, got 189 in the second half. O’Neil completed 18 of 28 passes for 149 yards. But he did throw three interceptions, one of which was returned 35 yards for a touchdown by Oceanside’s Lee Strain.

Oceanside wasn’t doing much better. It had four turnovers and was penalized eight times for 80 yards. Oceanside turnovers set up two short Mater Dei scoring drives in the first half--13- and 16-yards, respectively--each ending with O’Neil passes.

But it was only in the second half that Mater Dei started to take advantage of its huge offensive line, averaging 260 pounds. Running back Byron Quiros, blasting right into the middle of the line, gained 123 yards in the game, 93 coming in the second half.

Mater Dei’s Tony Pena had nine catches for 79 yards and one touchdown.

On the other side, Oceanside’s Strain and Fred Dunn each caught four passes. Strain for 63 yards, Dunn for 73 and a touchdown.

fo a fumble by fred dunn (87) attracts mater dei’s mike kelly, roger merritt and rob regan.