Mater Dei Puts a Stop to Los Alamitos : At 47, Monarchs Halt Count

Forty-five. . .46. . .47. . .just how monstrous was the Incredible Expanding Los Alamitos Unbeaten Streak going to grow?

Notch No. 48 was about to be carved into the Anaheim Stadium goalposts Friday night, with the Griffins up by 10 and Mater Dei High down to its last 4:43.

Beaming red from head to toe--faces included--the Monarchs congregated at the Los Alamitos 49-yard line, somberly contemplating a streak of their own.

Four second-half possessions for Mater Dei, four second-half giveaways.

No. 1: Quarterback John Flynn, in the process of being dragged down for a sack by Los Al defensive end Chris Bagley, fails to duck and cover and instead shot puts a feeble wobbler that Griffin defensive back Ife Ohalefe tips and intercepts. Two plays later, Los Al takes the lead, 17-14.

No. 2: Flynn attempts the more traditional form of the forward pass--overhand throw, tight spiral downfield--and hits wide receiver David Castleton right in the hands for a potential 57-yard scoring play. Except the football dribbles through Castleton’s normally reliable fingers, the pass falls incomplete and one play later, the Monarchs are forced to punt.

No. 3: Down 24-14 now, Flynn drives Mater Dei to the Los Al 12 and hands the ball to Steve Bodnar, typically a shrewd move. Bodnar had just eclipsed the 1,700-yard mark for the season and he picks up four more on this carry . . . before fumbling the ball away at the Griffin eight.

No. 4: With 6:55 to play, Monarch fullback Joey Trampush finds an opening down the left sideline and runs 40 yards, 50 yards, 60 yards, 70 yards--inside the Griffin five when Los Al defensive back Damon Houston strips the ball from behind and teammate Tom Carbajal recovers.

At the Los Alamitos one-yard line.

How much more torment can a high school football team withstand?

At this point, after this kind of mental and emotional torture, the 16-, 17- and 18-year olds who compose Mater Dei’s roster should have been drained, exhausted, done for the evening and the season.

Two-a-days, here the Monarchs come.

But with 4:22 left, Mater Dei got the ball back and Flynn took off running. First for 28 yards. Then 12.

Suddenly, the Monarchs were at the Griffin two-yard line and Bodnar had the ball in his hands.

This time he held it as he plunged into the end zone.

Los Al 24, Mater Dei 21, 3:44 to go.

Onside kick. Everyone standing inside Anaheim Stadium--and there were a load of them, 30,065 in all--could see it coming. So could the Griffins as they watched half the Mater Dei kick team overlap behind the other half, waiting to hear the thump of the ball.

Patrick Shinnefield kicked it into the ground and the ball took a wicked bad hop, bouncing over one Griffin as if he were an Angel infielder, and into the arms of Mater Dei’s diving Elliot Richardson.

Ball to Mater Dei at the Los Al 46, 3:20 to go.

Now, what to do with it?

Flynn had already had two passes intercepted, so Monarch Coach Bruce Rollinson went the conservative route. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a two-minute drill played closer to the vest than this.

Six handoffs in a row. First to Trampush, then Bodnar the rest of the way. Why not, Rollinson figured. Mater Dei’s massive line was opening gaping holes in the Griffin defense--and the more time the Monarchs ran off the clock, the less time there was for Los Al quarterback Kevin (Rallies R Us) Feterik.

On the seventh play, Rollinson called a pass. A very safe pass. A tight end screen.

As it was, Flynn barely got it away, getting flattened just as he released it. The ball found its way to Casey Rouintree, who clutched it, spun away from one tackler and trudged into the end zone with 43 seconds left.

Stunningly, The Streak was down to its last minute.

Feterik had done more with less already, pulling out last-ditch victories against Edison and Esperanza on back-to-back weeks, but he only got three snaps this time.

One sack, one 12-yard scramble and a tipped pass that was picked off by Castleton with 12 seconds left.

“I never doubted our team,” Rollinson said amid the pandemonium that followed, attempting to convince himself.

“I thank God we pulled it out. I didn’t want to go into that locker room to tell Trampush and Bodnar that they had played their last game.”

No, one more.

Next Saturday, back at Anaheim Stadium, against former Angelus League rival Bishop Amat. It will be Mater Dei’s second championship game appearance in as many years, and its third in four.

One streak expires, another lives on.