Mater Dei Stops Esperanza, 38-28

Food poisoning couldn’t slow Santa Ana Mater Dei running back Steve Bodnar, and neither could Anaheim Esperanza as Bodnar rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns to help the Monarchs to a 38-28 victory in a nonleague football game at Placentia Valencia High on Friday.

“I felt a little sick this morning, but I took a lot of fluids and I felt excellent out there tonight,” said Bodnar, who scored the final touchdown on a seven-yard run with 41 seconds remaining.

But Bodnar was almost the goat.

Mater Dei quarterback John Flynn, who completed 14 of 23 passes for 174 yards, seemingly put the game out of reach four minutes into the fourth quarter. After he scrambled out of the pocket, he raced 32 yards up the sideline for a touchdown and a 31-14 lead.

Esperanza (1-1) took the next possession and moved 80 yards in seven plays, culminating the drive when Brian Forth turned a short screen pass from Chris Stretch into a 26-yard scoring play.

On Mater Dei’s next possession, Bodnar rambled 32 yards but fumbled at the Monarch 47, where Jake Franko recovered for Esperanza with 3 minutes 56 seconds remaining.

Stretch, who completed 17 of 29 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns, moved the Aztecs 47 yards in five plays, capping the drive with a perfect 30-yard pass to Forth in the corner of the end zone.

Forth had seven receptions for 113 yards, and his last reception followed by a two-point conversion run by Stretch pulled Esperanza within 31-28 with 2:46 remaining.

Esperanza tried an onside kick, but Peter Campbell recovered for the Monarchs at their 49.

“I was a little down on myself after the fumble,” Bodnar said. “But I just wanted to do anything I could to get into the end zone again.”

Bodnar, who scored touchdowns on runs of four and six yards in the first half, carried the ball on three consecutive plays before scoring the clincher on the fourth one.

Dahrin Footman rushed for 124 yards in 18 carries and scored two touchdowns for Esperanza.