Mater Dei Dominates Bishop Amat, 24-6

For 11 years, Mater Dei has watched other teams win Angelus League championships. Friday night, the Monarchs went into the lair of the beast and finally got a piece of the action.

Mater Dei rolled to a 24-6 victory Bishop Amat, which has won or shared six consecutive league titles. It gave the Monarchs a share of the league championship, their first since 1979.

Bishop Amat and Mater Dei are tied for the league lead and Loyola can make it a tri-championship with a victory over Servite tonight. Mater Dei will enter the Southern Section Division playoffs as the league’s No. 3 representative, having lost a coin toss this week.

Those details mattered little to the Monarchs Friday. They were busy celebrating their first victory over Bishop Amat since 1986. Mater Dei not only beat the Lancers, it dominated them before an overflow crowd 6,000 at Bishop Amat.

“We just got down and played some good old Angelus League football,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “The kids did what they had to do.”

And there was plenty to overcome at first.

Quarterback Billy Blanton, playing with a bruised rotator cuff, was off most of the night. Blanton, who had thrown for 2,324 yards and 24 touchdowns entering the game, completed only 10 of 22 passes for 163 yards--his weakest performance of the season.

On the Monarchs first play, Blanton floated a pass down the sideline, which was intercepted by Jason Hernandez. Blanton later redeemed himself by throwing a 47-yard touchdown pass to David Knuff.

Blanton’s off-night left the Monarchs, a score and swagger team, looking for other ways to control the game. They found it in their defense.

“We knew we would have to hit with them,” Rollinson said. “They are very physical.”

After Hernandez’s interception, the Lancers drove 51 yards in five plays, with Andy Reitz throwing a 31-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Sermons for a 6-0 lead.

Bishop Amat gained only 88 yards the rest of the game. Injuries were part of the problem, as Mike Smith (bruised elbow) and star running back Scott Fields (sprained ankle) were not 100%.

But the main problem was the Mater Dei defense, which wouldn’t budge. The Monarchs intercepted four passes, two by Parker Gregg which set up scores.

Mater Dei limited the potent Lancer running game to 54 yards. Fields, a 1,000-yard rusher, gained only 27 yards in eight carries.

“The rest of the team took their lead from the way our defense played,” Rollinson said. “When the kids saw the defense turning up the heat, they get pumped up.”

With Blanton hurting, Mater Dei turned to the running game. The Monarchs gained 199 rushing, the first time this season they have had more yards rushing then passing.

Brian Solis had 71 yards in 16 carries, including a 17-yard touchdown run in the first quarter that gave Mater Dei the lead. Solis jitterbugged his way through the line, juking four defenders.

“I can ‘t remember that run, my mind went blank,” Solis said.

Chris Ruperto scored on a three-yard run in the second quarter, as the Monarchs led, 14-6, at halftime. It could have been worse. Mater Dei had the ball twice inside the four-yard line in the second quarter and came away with nothing.

Brian Broadbent kicked a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter and Blanton hit Knuff with a 47-yard scoring pass midway through the fourth quarter.