Prep Football Playoffs : Loyola Gets By Mater Dei, 30-17

Loyola grounded Mater Dei’s air attack, overcame the loss of its best offensive and defensive players and ultimately beat the quarterfinal jinx and Mater Dei, 30-17, Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

The victory before 5,500 fans in Anaheim’s Handel Stadium moved Loyola, 12-0 and the nation’s top-ranked team, into the semifinals next week against Bishop Amat, which defeated Fontana, 28-27, in overtime, at a site to be determined. Mater Dei finished at 6-6.

For 11 consecutive years, Loyola, under Coach Steve Grady, had entered the postseason playoffs and failed to advance beyond the quarterfinal round.

Loyola overcame a 10-point deficit by scoring 2 touchdowns and getting 2 field goals by Paul Stonehouse for a 20-10 lead and was never seriously threatened after that.

In other Southern Section quarterfinal games:

Servite 41, Crespi 21--Crespi’s Russell White won the Battle of the Backs, with 162 yards to Derek Brown’s 130, but Servite won the Division I game at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Servite scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to turn a tight game into a runaway. Crespi, which trailed 20-7 at the half, moved to within 20-14 on a 14-yard run by White with 8:09 left in the third quarter.

But on the first play of the fourth quarter, Servite quarterback Chris Johnson faked a handoff to Brown who scooted around the left end to give the Friars a 27-14 lead. Servite (10-2) scored 2 more touchdowns to put Crespi (6-6) away.

White--who needed 164 yards to reach the 6,000-yard career mark--was stopped for no gain on his second-to-last carry and fumbled on his final carry 2 yards yards shy.

Canyon Country Canyon 29, Hawthorne 14--Chris Peery, who wore No. 81 in the first half and played exclusively at tight end, emerged from the locker room with his regular No. 8 and, playing his normal position of running back, rushed for second-half touchdowns of 21, 6 and 27 yards to lead the Cowboys in a Division II playoff game at Hawthorne. “He changed shirts in a phone booth right over there,” Canyon Coach Harry Welch said.

Hawthorne quarterback Curtis Conway ran for a 50-yard touchdown and scored another on an interception return. He finished with 51 rushing yards in 5 carries, but completed only 4 of 12 passes for 51 yards, and had 2 passes intercepted. Canyon Country, winning its 10th straight, is now 10-2. Hawthorne finished at 8-3-1.

Los Alamitos 52, Schurr 22--Ron Monninger caught 2 touchdown passes, one on a 52-yard play the other on a 28-yarder, in the first half to put Los Alamitos ahead 31-0 at halftime in a Division III game at Gahr High School. Los Alamitos record is 11-0-1 and Schurr finished the season 9-3.

Valencia 20, Sunny Hills 7--Keef Leasure rushed for 141 yards and 1 touchdown in 27 carries to lead Valencia, the defending Division VI champion, at Buena Park High.

Leasure scored on a 1-yard run with 4:43 left in the first quarter and Randy Roskelly caught an 8-yard scoring pass from quarterback Tracy Garrett as Valencia (11-0-1) took a 14-0 halftime lead.

Kenny Overby, Sunny Hills running back, scored on a 21-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as the Lancers (9-3) could get.

Los Altos 21, Workman 14--Running back Fernando Zambrano took the snap from center in the shotgun formation and completed a 40-yard touchdown pass play to Roger Boden with 5:07 remaining in the game to give Los Altos the Division IV win at La Puente High.

Los Altos is now 11-1. Workman finished the season 8-3-1.

Claremont 14, Bell Gardens 6--Claremont opened the game with 56-yard drive capped off by Chris Palos’ 32-yard reception from Craig Langton then added a third quarter touchdown 5-yard run by Demetrius Smith to win the Division IV game at Bell Gardens. The second score was set up by a 54-yard pass play from Langton to Palos. In a nonleague game earlier this season, Bell Gardens (11-1), the top-seeded team in Division IV, had beaten Claremont (10-2), 28-13.

San Marino 7, Verbum Dei 0--Jerry Dietrich had a 13-yard run 5 minutes into the first quarter for the only touchdown of the game to give San Marino the victory in a Division VII game at Downey. San Marino (10-0-1) will play Lompoc (9-2) in the semifinals Friday.

Lompoc 14, Morningside 9--After Morningside led 9-0 at halftime, Lompoc sophomore running back Napoleon Kaufman scored on a third-quarter 6-yard pass from Jason Garife and again early in the fourth quarter on 48-yard run in a Division VII game at Lompoc. Kaufman finished the game with 86 yards in 16 carries. Lompoc (9-2) will play San Marino in the semifinals.

Kern Valley 14, Oak Park 3--Kern Valley (10-2) took a 7-3 lead on the only pass quarterback Tim Plante completed all game, a 15-yard strike to Tim McVey in a Division IX game at Oak Park, which finished the season 10-2.