Mater Dei Wins, Gets Its Rematch

Get ready for Mater Dei vs. Long Beach Poly, the sequel.

The Monarchs will get their rematch with the Jackrabbits (13-0) in the Southern Section Division I final at Edison Field next Saturday after Mater Dei blasted Los Alamitos, 33-6, in front of an announced crowd of 12,643 Saturday night at Edison Field.

Last year, Poly beat Mater Dei, 28-25, in the Coliseum, ending the Monarchs’ 27-game winning streak. The Jackrabbits are currently on a 27-game winning streak.

“I think I will enjoy this one a while,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “But the script was written [to play Poly]. Now we have to figure out a way to stop them.”

Said Mater Dei linebacker Kevin Mitchell: “You could say there is a revenge factor, but come on. . . . It’s just another game. We get a chance to play them again and hopefully we will win this time.”

Mater Dei (12-1) needed only one phase of its offensive game Saturday night, running previously unbeaten Los Alamitos out of the playoffs with its ground game.

Matt Grootegoed rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns, and fellow tailback Junior Palacios had 161 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Scott Lukash basically stayed out of the way, passing for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Los Alamitos (12-1) came into the game as the county’s highest-scoring team. But the Griffins barely avoided getting shut out for the first time since 1991 when quarterback Ryan Hanson connected with Ryan Godfrey on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 3:41 left to play.

Otherwise, Hanson endured his worst game of the season, passing for only 81 yards. In fact, receiver Keenan Howry actually had more yardage throwing the ball (105 yards on two trick plays) than he did catching it (four receptions for 24 yards).

Los Alamitos couldn’t do much on the ground either. Hanson was sacked four times for a minus-30 yards. The Griffins’ top ground-gainer, Josiah Doby, had only 26 yards in 14 carries.

“They were just tougher,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said. “They just beat us up in front. We could not run the football.”

It was the sixth meeting between the teams since 1979. Mater Dei holds a 4-1-1 edge. Los Alamitos’ only victory came in 1995.

All week at practice, Rollinson and staff stressed controlling the clock to his offense. That would keep Los Alamitos’ potent offense on the sidelines and, when it did get in the game, out of sync.

“On offense we wanted to play four to five minutes,” Rollinson said. “That figures out to eight to 12 plays. I wanted them to be patient, take four and five yards at a crack.”

The Monarchs did that to perfection in the first half, building a 21-0 halftime lead.

Once Mater Dei discovered it could run the ball at will, Lukash spent most of his time turning around and handing the ball to Palacios and Grootegoed. The two combined for 167 yards and each scored a touchdown in the first half. Grootegoed swept around left end for a six-yard score in the first quarter, and Palacios burrowed eight yards for his points in the second quarter.

Mater Dei’s other touchdown came on a 16-yard pass from Lukash to Kelvin Millhouse, who outfought Los Alamitos cornerback Adolph Keyes for the ball in the right corner of the end zone.

Los Alamitos was completely frustrated by the Monarchs. Hanson got little time to throw, completing only three of 14 passes for 22 yards.