SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Top Team Passes on Title Shot

Dwight D. Eisenhower High School: First in USA Today’s national prep football poll, second at Anaheim Stadium, 647th on the pregame blackboard.

This is not intended to take anything away from Mater Dei High School, which took away the Southern Section Division I championship from Eisenhower Friday night, 35-14, and left no questions unanswered, no objectives unfulfilled.

This is no attempt to neglect, in any way, a remarkable game of catch between Mater Dei’s ever-inventive quarterback, Billy Blanton, and his reliable fleet of receivers, who combined to pierce Eisenhower’s defense for 257 passing yards and three touchdowns.

But this is how Eisenhower, previously unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the nation, lost for the first time this season in its most important football game of this or any season:

It passed.

It passed when it should have run, which ought to be every non-punting down, with the beasts Eisenhower has up front and the hydrofoils it harbors in its offensive backfield.

It passed when it has Omar Love, one of the best high-school rushers in the land, and sidekick Marcus Soward, who averages 6.2 yards per handoff.

It passed when it averages 199.2 rushing yards a game, when it averages 4.9 yards per carry, when it averaged a mere 13 passes per game in its first 13 games--and did so for good reason.

Consequently, Eisenhower passed on a splendid chance to complete its first 14-0 season and prove that the No. 1 ranking decreed the Eagles was worth more than the paper on which it was printed.

It was game plan filled with fatal flaws, but Eisenhower Coach Tom Hoak’s first mistake was breaking out the Mater Dei game films and watching Blanton nail pass completion after pass completion, burning secondaries from Hawaii Iolani to Riverside Poly.

If it’s that easy, it must be worth copying, right?

Wrong move No. 1, Number One.

The Eagles, who had outscored their previous 13 opponents by the laughable margin of 417-85, courtesy of repeated poundings through the line by Love and Soward, came out passing and were quick to pay for it.

Their first possession ended in a punt--and resulted in Mater Dei’s first score, a triple-reverse flea-flicker pass by Blanton to David Knuff, good for 49 yards and a 7-0 Monarchs lead.

They pulled to within 7-6--on a two-yard run by Love following a run of 34 yards by Soward--and then resumed passing, drilling enough balls into the grass to snuff drives at the Mater Dei 16 and the Eisenhower 31. Mater Dei struck back in a flash, Blanton to Roger Morante for 33 yards, and the Eagles suddenly found themselves in a most unusual predicament--down at halftime, 14-6.

Therein lies the crushing problem for run-first teams that betray their strength. The more they pass, the deeper their hole becomes, requiring even more passes--and the excavation of a deeper hole.

Jevon Hicks, Eisenhower’s uncommonly overworked quarterback, threw 16 times in the first half, as compared to the 18 rushing plays the Eagles attempted over the same span. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst of it was Hicks’ first pass of the second half, a sideline lob that Mater Dei defensive back Brian Barajas stepped in front of, intercepted and returned 63 yards for a 21-6 advantage.

This aerial thing wasn’t working, Hoak noticed, but he didn’t change strategies. He changed quarterbacks, bringing in sophomore Glenn Thompkins, who promptly ran a keeper 76 yards for a touchdown.

It was the boost Eisenhower needed, but sophomore quarterbacks come with an inherent risk attached: They make sophomore mistakes. Later in the third quarter, Thompkins fumbled at the Mater Dei 35, the Monarchs recovered and Blanton drove to another touchdown, putting the score at 28-14 and all but out of reach.

There is an underdog in possession of the Division I trophy today, and there will be a new No. 1 in the USA Today poll next week, because one team stayed with what got it here and the other simply and purely got lost. Mater Dei won the Angelus League on the muscles and tendon’s in Blanton’s right arm; Monarch Coach Bruce Rollinson saw no reason to change at this juncture.

Blanton was at typical, top-shelf precision. He threw 25 times, completed 15 for three scores and spread the wealth around. Knuff had six catches for 102 yards. Morante caught five balls for 107 yards. They stayed the course, went with the tried and true, and orchestrated a genuine upset.

For the second time in 26 years, Mater Dei is a football champion and future Southern Section playoff contenders gained a lesson worth memorizing and never forgetting.

If you ever reach the championship game, whatever you do, don’t be like Ike.