SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Big Night for Blanton, Mater Dei : Division I: Quarterback passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns. Monarchs reach title game for first time since ’65.

Mater Dei High School quarterback Billy Blanton stood there, blood trickling from his broken nose, grinning from ear to ear.

Behind him was a 35-21 victory over Loyola in the semifinals of the Southern Section Division I playoffs Friday night. Ahead, a showdown against No. 1-seeded Eisenhower in the final at Anaheim Stadium next Friday--the Monarchs’ first championship game since 1965.

As good as the future looks, Blanton wanted to look back, just for a moment.

“This feels so good,” said Blanton. “I don’t think we have ever been so fired for a game. We feel vindicated.”

And why not? After all, Loyola was the one blemish on an otherwise perfect season.

The Cubs (10-3), the defending Division I champions, handed the Monarchs (12-1) their only defeat, 28-20, in an Angelus League game. This was the payback and an overflow crowd of 9,000 at Santa Ana Stadium saw Blanton make certain the debt was taken care of.

He completed 13 of 24 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 33 for the season to set an Orange County record. He made a key play in the fourth quarter, scrambling 19 yards for a first down that pretty much settled matters. And, he did most of it with a nose so broken that it had grown to Pinocchio proportions by the end of the game.

“I tell you what, the bigger the game, the better Billy plays,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “He was outstanding.”

And he was, from the start.

By halftime, Blanton had 203 yards passing. He threw two touchdown passes to David Knuff, covering 26 and 12 yards.

Things were going so good for Blanton that even when the Monarchs made mistakes, he made up for them. After having a 53-yard touchdown pass to Roger Morante called back because of holding, Blanton hit Morante for 57 yards on the next play, giving Mater Dei a first down on the nine.

Blanton then scrambled eight yards to the one, getting a broken nose for the effort. Nickey Sualua scored on the next play.

In the fourth quarter, Blanton completed a 41-yard pass to Morante, who made an over-the-shoulder catch that moved Mater Dei to the five. Two plays later, Chris Ruperto scored.

“I was getting all kinds of time,” Blanton said. “Last time, they put a lot of pressure on me. This time, we kept a back in to block and I had all day.”

The Monarchs got the Cubs down and kept them there. They led, 14-0, at the end of the first quarter and 28-7 at halftime. The Monarchs had scored on four of their five possessions and finished with 437 total yards.

“Our line was blowing them off the ball,” Sualua said.

Their defense was no slouch either. In the first meeting, the Cubs gained 193 yards rushing. Friday, they had 46.

Mater Dei sacked quarterback Clelio Boccato six times, including two each by Knuff and Sualua. Ray Jackson also intercepted two Boccato passes.

Loyola made an effort to get back into the game in the second half. Wide receiver Charles Smith threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Darren Jenkins off a lateral to cut the deficit to 28-14 midway through the third quarter.

On their next possession, the Cubs got to the Mater Dei 16, but Sualua sacked Boccato for a 13-yard loss. John Stonehouse then missed a 45-yard field goal.

Loyola got a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 10-yard pass from Boccato to Edward Fourticq. But it was too little, too late.

“We were ready tonight,” Rollinson said.