Mater Dei Makes Return to Title Game

The Mater Dei Monarchs are one game away from fulfilling the goal they set for themselves this summer, winning back-to-back Division I football championships.

Having scored a hard-fought, 28-14 victory over La Puente Bishop Amat before an estimated 6,000 at Citrus College, the top-ranked and top-seeded Monarchs (13-0) will play the winner of tonight’s Long Beach Poly-Loyola game next Saturday at the Coliseum.

Mater Dei notched its 27th consecutive victory by exploiting three key Lancer turnovers en route to a 28-0 halftime lead, then withstood a second-half Bishop Amat surge and some of their own self-destructive urges (seven penalties for 75 yards) to reach the final.

Bishop Amat finishes 11-2.

“I’m excited to be back in the championship game,” Mater Dei’s coach, Bruce Rollinson, said. “We started talking about the chance to repeat after last year’s championship game and made it a goal.”