Mater Dei Rolls Past St. Paul, 47-9

Billy Blanton passed for 266 yards and four touchdowns and Mater Dei defeated St. Paul, 47-9, Friday at Santa Ana Stadium, making a mockery of a once-intense rivalry.

St. Paul moved from the Angelus League to the Mission League last season, and Friday the Monarchs showed the Swordsmen a new meaning to out of their league .

The victory--the fourth consecutive by Mater Dei over St. Paul--was the Monarchs’ third of the season without a loss and, after having to hold on to defeat Capistrano Valley last week, 27-21, the rout had to be satisfying.

Blanton, who has passed for 12 touchdowns and 894 yards this season, showed early that he intended to continue showing why he is the county’s top-rated passer.

On the first play from scrimmage, he threw a deep pass that Roger Morante wasn’t able to run down. Blanton also crossed the line of scrimmage before throwing the pass and the Monarchs were penalized.

But that was one of only a few mistakes the Mater Dei senior made. After the Mater Dei offense moved from its 16 to the St. Paul 49, Blanton completed a 49-yard touchdown pass to Chris Ruperto.

Blanton completed 14 of 18 passes for the game and was intercepted once early in the first half.

Blanton threw three of his touchdown passes in the first half as the Monarchs opened a 21-9 lead. Jason Thies caught the second touchdown pass, a 19-yarder, and Morante caught the third, a 12-yarder with four seconds remaining before halftime.

Blanton had kept the drive before halftime alive with two scrambles of more than 10 yards.

St. Paul (0-2) had cut the Monarchs’ lead to 7-3 on a 52-yard field goal by Dave Candelas in the first quarter, and 14-9 on a three yard run by Shawn McKinney, but the final Monarch touchdown may have broken the Swordsmen’s spirit.

Mater Dei, which has an offensive line that averages more than 240 pounds a man and a defensive line that isn’t much smaller, dominated both lines of scrimmage. If the Monarchs had wanted, it seemed that they could have run the ball at will through the huge holes created by linemen such as John Grootegoed, 6-foot-1 and 280 pounds.

Ruperto averaged about five yards a carry and scored on a five-yard run to open the second half and give the Monarchs a 28-9 lead.

David Knuff intercepted a halfback pass by McKinney and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown and Blanton completed one more touchdown of 38 yards to Ruperto before the substitutes took over.