Mater Dei Dominates Servite, 41-7

If there were any questions about Santa Ana Mater Dei’s dominance before Friday night, the Monarchs easily answered them against previously undefeated Anaheim Servite.

Before a capacity crowd of 10,000 at Cal State Fullerton, Mater Dei took advantage of the mistake-ridden Friars, 41-7, to improve to 5-0 and maintain its Times’ No. 1 ranking.

Mater Dei quarterback Nick Stremick passed for three touchdowns and the Monarchs intercepted Servite’s Greg Cicero four times in a lopsided matchup between Orange County’s top teams.

The opportunistic Monarchs made Servite pay early when linebacker Ryan Neely intercepted a swing pass intended for fullback Danny Rubalcava and ran untouched 24 yards for a score to give Mater Dei a 7-0 lead with 6:14 left in the first quarter.

On Servite’s next possession, Cicero was intercepted again when Henry Santos grabbed a deflected ball and returned it to the Servite 21. Three plays later, the Monarchs took a 14-0 lead when sophomore Marcel Dailey scored on a 11-yard run.

The Friars, who had 12 penalties for 115 yards, were their own worst enemy from the start. After recovering a Mater Dei opening-drive fumble at the Monarchs’ 25 yard-line, Servite came away empty when the Friars were unable to get a first down in four plays.

The Friars again hurt themselves late in the first half when Mater Dei scored on a 31-yard touchdown pass play from Stremick to Rod Perry with 18 seconds left in the second quarter.

Servite, which has not defeated Mater Dei since 1988, scored the first touchdown of the second half when Cicero scored on a three-yard sneak to cut Mater Dei’s lead to 21-7 with 4:56 remaining in the third quarter.

That only made the Monarchs angry as they responded with two quick touchdowns to open up a 34-7 lead with 1:07 left in the quarter. Stremick scored the first touchdown with a 20-yard pass to David Castleton and then followed with a 43-yard screen pass play to Mike McNair.

Mater Dei running back James Farley added the final score midway in the fourth quarter with a 12-yard touchdown run to give the Monarchs a 41-7 lead. Farley, who entered the game averaging 100 yards per game, finished with 59 yards in 12 carries.

Stremick, who has passed for 840 yards and 12 touchdowns without an interception this season, completed 10 of 23 passes for 228 yards and Perry finished with seven catches for 139 yards.

Servite’s Cicero, who had passed for 798 yards and eight touchdowns with only two interceptions in the first four games of the season, completed only 10 of 30 passes for 76 yards with four interceptions.