PREP EXTRA: SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : DIVISION I : Mater Dei Gives Fans What They Want by Routing Loyola

Mater Dei helped to give Orange County its dream semifinal matchup by posting a 31-7 victory over Los Angeles Loyola in a Southern Section Division I quarterfinal football game Friday.

Second-seeded Mater Dei (12-0) advanced to play Los Alamitos, a 7-0 winner over Long Beach Poly. Los Alamitos and Mater Dei have been ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in Orange County for the entire season.

After Mater Dei started slowly, a crowd of 7,500 at Cerritos College watched the third-seeded Monarchs dissect Loyola, piece by piece.

On the ground, Mater Dei running back Steve Bodnar rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown in 20 carries. Fullback Joey Trampush scored two touchdowns.

Through the air, Mater Dei quarterback John Flynn completed 12 of 19 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown with one interception. Wide receiver Rod Perry caught three passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Monarchs limited the Cubs (8-3) to 73 yards in the first half as they built a 17-0 lead. Cornerback Kevin Braga intercepted two passes for Mater Dei, which held Loyola to three second-half first downs.

Loyola’s longest play from scrimmage came late in the fourth quarter when guard Robert Quigley ran for 47 yards on a fumblerooski play. But for the most part, the Monarchs kept Loyola in check.

“Mater Dei is a physical football team,” Loyola Coach Steve Grady said. “They have the size up front, and the talent at the skill positions. . . . That combination is tough to beat.”

Flynn cashed in Braga’s first interception, moving the Monarchs 84 yards in five plays for a score with less than five minutes remaining in the second quarter.

A 49-yard pass from Flynn to Perry moved Mater Dei deep into Loyola territory. Perry capped the drive when he split two Loyola defenders on a post pattern and Flynn found him for a 21-yard touchdown pass with 1 minutes 43 seconds remaining in the half and a 17-0 lead.

“I thought our pass defense was one of our strengths,” Grady said. “But (Flynn) kept making the big pass play against us, consistently, and big play after big play finally got to us.”

Mike Vanis, who gained 40 yards in 12 carries, tried to help the Cubs bounce back in the second half. After quarterback Kyle Spielbuehler connected with Dan Farmer for a 39-yard pass play, Vanis scored on a three-yard touchdown run one play later to make it 17-7 with 5:17 remaining in the third quarter.

But the Monarchs responded with a 12-play drive covering 75 yards, with Trampush scoring from one yard with one second remaining in the third quarter to make it 24-7.

“That’s as balanced as we’ve been,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “The offense will get all of the accolades tonight, but I thought our defense did a great job.”

The Monarchs intercepted three passes and forced Loyola to turn the ball over on downs twice.

Mater Dei also dominated in time of possession, keeping the ball for 29:34. Mater Dei’s second-half time of possession edge over Loyola was nearly two to one.

With Flynn keeping the Cubs honest through the air, Bodnar did the majority of the pounding.

He ran through Loyola tacklers all night. On Bodnar’s final carry of the game, on fourth and goal at the three, he stiff-armed Steve Dunne, a second-team All-Del Rey League defensive back, and bounced outside for the game’s final touchdown, making it 31-7 with 8:24 remaining.