Flynn Leads Mater Dei to Victory : Prep football: Quarterback’s two touchdown drives in final five minutes save Monarchs and end Los Alamitos’ 47-game unbeaten streak.

All the gaffes made by Santa Ana Mater Dei’s John Flynn Friday night didn’t seem to matter in the end.

All the errant throws, the two intercepted passes and mistakes were erased by one little dump pass to Casey Rouintree. The play went for 11 yards--the final three of which were airborne--and a touchdown.

It finished off a remarkable comeback and gave the Monarchs a 28-24 victory over Los Alamitos. It also ended the Griffins’ Southern Section-record 47-game unbeaten streak. And, most important, it put Mater Dei in the Division I championship game.

The Monarchs will play La Puente Bishop Amat next Saturday at Anaheim Stadium.

Flynn will be there and will hope for a better night. The fifth-largest crowd in section history, 30,065, watched him stumble around Anaheim Stadium on Friday, then come up big in the final minutes.

Rouintree hurdled three Los Alamitos’ defenders to put the Monarchs ahead. David Castleton intercepted a Kevin Feterik pass to clinch the victory. But it was Flynn who rallied the Monarchs from a 24-14 deficit in the final five minutes.

Flynn completed seven of 15 passes. He had two passes intercepted, more because of bad judgment than great defensive efforts.

“I kind of put it all on my shoulders after those two picks,” Flynn said. “But it made that touchdown pass all that much sweeter.”

It didn’t look as if he would get the chance.

Mater Dei turned the ball over four times, three times inside the 10-yard line, and looked beaten after Joey Trampush fumbled at the end of a 78-yard run with 6:41 left.

The Monarchs got the ball back at the Los Alamitos’ 49 with 4:43 left, and Flynn immediately scrambled for 28 yards and, after a five-yard penalty, another 12 yards to the two. One player later, Steve Bodnar scored on a two-yard run to make it 24-21.

Elliot Richardson recovered the onside kick with 3:42 left and the Monarchs went back to work. Bodnar, who gained 178 yards, and Trampush, who gained 126, worked the ball to the 11 with 50 seconds left. Flynn then dropped back and dumped the ball over defensive tackle Dax Houston. Rouintree snagged it and scored.

It brought to a close a unbeaten streak that began in 1991 and included three championships.

“We have a bunch young guys, we have a lot to look forward to,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said. “We feel real good about ourselves.”

They would have felt a whole lot better had they held their 10-point lead.

Feterik, who completed 16 of 25 passes for 328 yards, directed two third-quarter scoring drives. The first was set up when Flynn tried to dump a pass while on the run. It was deflected and intercepted by Ife Ohalefe.

In all, Feterik completed seven passes for 25 or more yards. His vertical game set up short touchdown runs by Feterik and Ryan Gragnano.

“‘Did we put on a show?” Barnes said. “We did everything right.”

But not in the first half.

Mater Dei led, 14-10, at halftime, but both teams made mistakes that cost them points--Mater Dei at the start and Los Alamitos at the end of the second quarter.