Mater Dei’s Blanton Passes Test : Prep football: He throws three scoring passes in 27-21 victory over Capistrano Valley.

A tale of two high school quarterbacks . . . and a tale of two football games.

Mater Dei 27, Capistrano Valley 0 : Billy Blanton completed 10 of 15 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns for the Monarchs in the first half.

Capistrano Valley 21, Mater Dei 0 : Quarterback Scott Patton ran for a touchdown and threw for 190 yards and a touchdown in the second half.

But Blanton had the better of the two halves as sixth-ranked Mater Dei built a 27-0 halftime lead and held off a comeback by fourth-ranked Capistrano Valley for a 27-21 victory Friday night before 5,500 at LeBard Stadium.

“What we had here was two different games,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “We wanted it bad in the first half. But the second half was completely different.

“I could see it in their faces at halftime. They completely lost their intensity, and I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Blanton, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior, was 13 for 21 with 318 yards and three touchdown passes. He threw completions of 71, 65, 42 and 35 yards, and two of his touchdown passes were to wide receiver Roger Morante.

But Capistrano Valley held him to only three completions for 45 yards in the second half.

Scott Patton was 16 for 30 for 251 yards, but was intercepted four times and lost two fumbles.

It was all Blanton in the first half. On the second play from scrimmage, he threw to running back Chris Ruperto on a short slant pattern, and Ruperto broke free for a 71-yard touchdown.

Blanton added a seven-yard touchdown pass to Morante with 5 minutes 29 seconds left in the first quarter to push the Monarchs’ lead to 14-0. Morante caught three passes for 107 yards.

Patton’s turnovers killed three of Capistrano Valley’s first-half drives. Patton fumbled at the Mater Dei 42 with 3:02 left in the first quarter, and threw three passes later in the quarter that were intercepted by Brian Barajas.

Barajas’ second interception was at the Mater Dei 35 with the Monarchs leading, 17-0, with 7:39 left in the second quarter. On the following play, Blanton threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Morante.

Brian Broadbent added his second field goal--a 28-yarder--with 11 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Monarchs a 27-0 halftime lead.

Patton led the comeback. He scrambled and broke free for a 37-yard touchdown run to make it 27-6 with 11:47 left in the fourth quarter.

The Cougars got the ball back after three Mater Dei plays and a punt. On the second play from scrimmage, Patton found Jack Connors open over the middle for a 55-yard touchdown pass. Patton threw to Blake Spence on the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 27-14.

Alan Perlas, who had 78 yards in 14 carries, scored on a two-yard run with 1:03 left to cut the deficit to 27-21. Mater Dei then ran out the clock.