Mater Dei Still Plays the Role of Spoiler Against the Tritons

The moment was right for San Clemente to bask in the sun. Instead, the Tritons were eclipsed by Mater Dei again.

San Clemente, long a South Coast League punching bag, was set to put those days in the past, maybe take a first step toward a league championship. An undefeated nonleague season certainly produced such lofty aspirations.

But Mater Dei’s 17-7 victory in front of 4,500 at San Clemente brought the Tritons down.

“We knew they were going to get up for this game,” Monarch nose tackle Brandon Gamboa said. “We knew they wanted a piece of Mater Dei. We gave it to them, but not the way they wanted it.”

This was suppose to be the Tritons’ best chance for a league title in 15 years. The program wallowed through the 1980s, once losing 26 consecutive league games.

Just a year ago, they needed only to win their final game to share the league championship. They were beaten, 35-0, and deprived of even a playoff berth. The culprit was Mater Dei.

So this was to be the great revenge. Instead, the Monarchs reaffirmed their dominance.

“I told the kids this was no time to hold anything back,” Monarch Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “We had to get on them from the first play. We wanted them to know that they were going to have to earn it.”

The Tritons (5-1, 0-1 in league) earned little and gained even less. Mater Dei’s defense saw to that.

The Monarchs (5-1, 1-0) sacked quarterback Geoff Buffum three times on the Tritons’ first possession.

Buffum was eight of 20 for only 45 yards. He didn’t suffer alone. Receiver Dylan Newman came into the game with 17 receptions, seven for touchdowns. He didn’t catch a pass until the third quarter and finished with only two receptions for 10 yards.

“We kept shooting ourselves in the foot,” Coach Mark McElroy said.

Things got so frustrating that McElroy pulled Buffum in the third quarter, replacing him with running back Allen Vaughan.

Vaughan, in fact, was the only Triton to gain much ground. He had 180 yards rushing, including an 81-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes left.

The rest of the Tritons combined for 14 yards--rushing and passing.

Each of the Monarchs’ starting defensive linemen had a sack. The Tritons, who had 22 sacks in five games, didn’t get to Monarch quarterback John Flynn.

By halftime, Mater Dei had a 223-31 edge in yards, but led only 7-0. The Monarchs missed field goals on their first two possessions.

Flynn finally got them in the end zone late in the half, as he tossed an 11-yard scoring pass to Michael-John Rzeznik.

The Monarchs turned conservative in the second half, just handing the ball to tailback Steve Bodnar. He finished with 212 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown run that gave Mater Dei a 17-0 lead with seven minutes left.

The Monarchs’ point was made.

“This was our chance to re-establish ourselves,” Rollinson said.