PREP EXTRA / ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Mater Dei Loses Perry but Still Beats Ramona

Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson was in no mood to celebrate although his team had just posted a convincing 38-0 victory over Riverside Ramona.

The Monarchs’ normally ebullient coach was in a somber mood after the victory at Santa Ana Stadium Friday. Mater Dei’s standout wide receiver, Rod Perry Jr., suffered a severe injury to his right knee on the team’s first possession.

Perry, the son of the former Ram player and assistant coach, clutched his right knee in pain after running on a reverse with 4 minutes 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Mater Dei (5-0) ran the reverse from the Ramona 37, and Perry raced around left end. When Ramona’s Sean Carr came up to make the tackle, Perry went down and Carr stopped him at the 36.

“His knee blew out when he was cutting,” Rollinson said. “Every indication is that it’s not good. It’s a serious injury.”

Rollinson said Perry will be examined either this weekend or Monday.

“To tell you the truth, I was pretty well distracted for the rest of the game,” Rollinson said. “I’ll have to watch the film to see what happened.”

Here are some highlights that might be a bit foggy for Rollinson:

*Junior running back James Farley, playing in only his second game this season, rushed for 153 yards in 18 carries including a four-yard touchdown run that gave Mater Dei a 10-0 lead at halftime.

*Mater Dei’s defense allowed Ramona (3-2) to cross midfield only three times. The Monarchs recovered one fumble, intercepted a pass, and forced the Rams to turn the ball over twice on downs.

*Wide receiver Ryan Buccola caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Stremick to give Mater Dei a 17-0 lead with one minute remaining in the third quarter.

*Mater Dei scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to break the game open, despite running only six plays in the quarter.

*Mater Dei’s reserves scored the final three touchdowns.

Sophomore Mike McNair scored on a three-yard touchdown run and senior Joe Frayne scored on a 27-yard touchdown run to make it 38-0 with 3:48 remaining.

Second-string quarterback David Castleton scored on a 14-yard scramble to make it 24-0 with 10:24 remaining.

Castleton took over for Stremick with 5:01 remaining in the second quarter and the Monarchs leading, 10-0. But Stremick returned to start the second half and Castleton returned in the fourth quarter.

So is there a quarterback controversy?

“We just wanted to give David some reps with the game on the line,” Rollinson said. “Nick is the starting quarterback. We just want to make sure we have a good solid backup in case of injury.”

It will be hard to find a backup of Perry’s caliber. Perry was a first-team all-Orange County selection last season.

Said Rollinson: “Now we’ll just have to wait and see.”