Mater Dei Routs Los Alamitos

Get ready for Mater Dei-Long Beach Poly, the Sequel.

The 12-1 Monarchs will get their rematch with the 13-0 Jackrabbits in the Division I final at Edison Field on Saturday after Mater Dei blasted Los Alamitos, 33-6, before an announced crowd of 12,643 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 of their own.

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

Mater Dei needed only one phase of its game Saturday night, running the previously unbeaten Griffins (12-1) out of the playoffs with a pair of backs churning out yardage behind a fierce offensive line.

Matt Grootegoed ran 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 came into the game as Orange 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.

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

Los Alamitos couldn’t do much on the ground either. Hanson was sacked four times for 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.”

All week, Rollinson and his staff stressed ball control to keep the Los Alamitos offense idle on the sidelines and out of rhythm when it did get on the field.

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

Once Mater Dei discovered it could run the ball at will, Lukash spent most of the time turning around and handing off to Palacios and Grootegoed.