Mater Dei to See Familiar Face When the Playoffs Begin

There aren’t many football coaches who have dominated Mater Dei. Marijon Ancich might be alone in that class.

Wherever he’s coached, at Santa Fe Springs St. Paul or Tustin, Ancich has always seemed to have the Monarchs’ number.

So Mater Dei’s reward for winning the South Coast League was a date with its old nemesis. The Monarchs (9-1) play the Swordsmen (7-3) on Friday at Santa Ana Stadium in the first round of the Division I playoffs.

“That’s a tough draw for us,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said.

Mater Dei hasn’t beaten an Ancich-coached team since 1966. Then, Rollinson was a running back for the Monarchs. St. Paul, which finished second in the Del Rey League this season, won 14 consecutive games in the series from 1967-80, when the teams were in the Angelus League.

The Monarchs ended that streak in 1981, but by then, Ancich had moved on.

“That wasn’t the real St. Paul we beat,” said Rollinson, who was a Monarch assistant then. “I just remember playing his St. Paul teams were wars.”

Ancich picked up two victories over the Monarchs in 1989 and 1990, when he coached Tustin. But you’d never know Ancich’s success to listen to him.

“Playing Mater Dei is always difficult,” Ancich said. “I mean, Rollinson has been there for what, 54 years? He has built that program up. They’re the biggest Catholic high school west of the Mississippi. They turn away more students then we get.”

And so on.

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Not again: Troy Coach John Turek wasn’t thrilled when he saw his Freeway League champions would play host to Rancho Alamitos in the first round.

The Vaqueros (6-3-1) defeated Troy (7-2-1), 27-17, in the season opener, and the teams have not been strangers during the past few years.

“In the past four years I think we’re 1-1-1-1 against them,” Rancho Alamitos Coach Doug Case said.

Rancho Alamitos lost the ’92 game by forfeit, but actually, the Vaqueros haven’t lost to Troy on the field since ’89. The teams tied in ‘91, and Rancho Alamitos posted victories in ’93 and ’90.

“It’s going to be a good game . . . but at least we don’t have to go to Lompoc,” Case said.

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They do: Sonora (6-4) will travel to play third-seeded Lompoc (7-3) in the first round, but the Raiders aren’t complaining. Sonora, which tied for second in the Freeway League, made the playoffs for the first time since 1985.

“We talked about the possibility of playing Lompoc and the kids thought it could be worse,” Sonora Coach Mark Takkinen said. “They think it’s pretty neat just to be in the playoffs . . . we’re all excited.”

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News blackout: Costa Mesa won the Pacific Coast League this season, its first league title since 1978, and will play South Pasadena on Friday in the first round in Division VIII.

But you won’t hear any of the Mustangs talking about it. Not in print, anyway.

Coach Myron Miller instituted a gag order on his players, after running back Dwayne Crenshaw said, “ . . . We own Century. We own Estancia,” after the Mustangs moved into sole possession of first place.

Century tied the Mustangs the next week. Then the Mustangs beat Estancia to wrap up the league title. Still, Miller wasn’t taking any chances.

“All anyone is going to remember is what Dwayne said,” Miller said. “No one is going to remember that we had a great season. So any quotes come from me now.”

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On the road again: Santa Margarita (8-2) drew Damien (7-3) at La Verne as an opening-round opponent after defeating Newport Harbor (7-3) Friday. The win earned the Sea View League’s No. 3 seeding.

But long road trips don’t seem to bother Santa Margarita, which traveled to Citrus College to defeat Glendora in the first round last season, 28-7, and traveled to Colton to post a 29-22 first-round victory in 1991.

“We’re used to the long drives,” Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan said. “I think our playoff record on the road is better than at home.”

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Small reward: San Clemente qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1979 and its coach was quick to reward his players.

The team got T-shirts that read, “Team of Destiny Ends the Drought.”

“We don’t have a lot of money,” Coach Mark McElroy said.

The Tritons’ other reward was to draw undefeated and third-seeded Quartz Hill in Division I.

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Three-peaters: Irvine, Los Alamitos and Valencia will attempt to become the first Orange County team since Brea-Olinda to win three consecutive section titles.

The Wildcats did it from 1961-63. No one has come close in three decades.

“Gee, thanks for telling me that,” Valencia Coach Mike Marrujo said.

Valencia is seeded No. 1 in Division VI, Los Alamitos is No. 1 in Division I and Irvine is No. 2 in Division IV.

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No thanks: Pacifica Coach Bill Craven withdrew his team from consideration for an at-large berth.

“We were in a position where we didn’t feel we had a representative club left,” Craven said. “We were beat up going into the Los Amigos game and we lost three more players that night.”