Bishop Amat Sorts Out Angelus Race

Bishop Amat High School gave some clarity to the Angelus League football race Thursday and left Mater Dei grasping for some sort of consistency. The Lancers overwhelmed a listless Monarch offense for a 21-7 victory in front of 7,000 at Santa Ana Stadium.

The victory leaves Bishop Amat (7-1, 3-0 in league) in sole possession of first place with one game remaining. The Lancers need only to defeat Loyola next week to win their ninth consecutive league title.

And the Lancers can thank Jason Patterson for their lofty position.

Patterson, a senior defensive end/fullback, dominated the Monarchs’ offense and ran over their defense.

With two minutes left, the Monarchs faced a fourth-and-two situation at the Bishop Amat 13. Quarterback Billy Blanton attempted a bootleg but was brought down from behind for a one-yard loss by Patterson, giving the Lancers the ball and the game.

“Patterson is an animal,” Bishop Amat Coach Mark Paredes said.

The Monarchs already knew that. Patterson had four sacks and teamed with defensive end Peter Gomez for two more. In all, Blanton was sacked seven times for losses totaling 37 yards.

“We worked all week on stopping their defensive ends from crashing,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “They (Bishop Amat) didn’t do anything that we didn’t expect.”

The Monarchs’ problems weren’t limited to their passing game.

Mater Dei (4-5, 1-1) has become more and more dependent on running back Derek Sparks. However, he was held to less than 100 yards for the third consecutive week. He gained 78 yards in 22 carries.

Mater Dei had 189 total yards. The Monarchs have scored only 21 points in the last three games.

Things may not get much better, either. The Monarchs lost wide receiver Leland Sparks, who was taken to the hospital with a knee injury.

Patterson set up the Lancers first touchdown by recovering a Sparks fumble at the seven. Three plays later, quarterback Zach Zertuche threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Eoghan Gallagher in the second quarter.

But Patterson’s performance wasn’t limited to defense. He also had 115 yards rushing in 19 carries. He gained 22 yards on the Lancers’ second touchdown drive, which ended in a four-yard run by Jess Holguin.

In the fourth quarter, Zertuche threw a flat pass to Scott Fields, who spun away from one defender and went 15 yards for a touchdown.

“Our defense did the best job they could do,” Rollinson said.

The offense?

Well, Mater Dei avoided the shutout when Blanton threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to David Gonzalez with three minutes left.