Monarchs Push Poly Off Perch

Long Beach Poly now knows what Rialto Eisenhower found out in 1991.

You never want to play Mater Dei when the Monarchs are underdogs.

Mater Dei completed a 13-1 season by upsetting the defending champion, 33-26, in front of an announced crowd of 19,056 Saturday at Edison Field. It was the Monarchs’ fourth championship (in six final appearances) in the 1990s, and second in the last three years.

“The key was we played 48 minutes this time,” Monarchs Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “It’s a class program we just beat.”

Top-seeded Long Beach Poly (13-1), which defeated Mater Dei, 28-25, in the Coliseum last year, was trying win back-to-back championships for the third time in school history, and the first time since 1958-59.

To do so Long Beach would have had to overcome its biggest deficit of the season, after Mater Dei rolled to a 26-14 first-half lead. It was a deficit the Jackrabbits could not erase, in part because of mistakes (three lost fumbles, one interception), penalties (nine for 62 yards), and an opportunistic Monarch defense that stopped a couple of drives with fourth-down stands.

“We didn’t execute when we had to,” said Jackrabbit tailback Larry Croom, who rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns in 21 carries but fumbled twice. “It was one of those games where you play terribly.”

Mater Dei tailback Matt Grootegoed rushed for 244 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also fumbled twice, the last time coming with 2:38 to play in the game giving Poly another chance. The Jackrabbits quickly went the needed 51 yards, the last 20 on a touchdown pass from Chris Lewis to Andre Cyrus, but Mater Dei recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

“I was feeling it in the fourth quarter,” Grootegoed said. “My shoulder was bummed a bit, and my legs were giving out. But we mixed it up on offense really well. They didn’t know what was coming.”

“Grootegoed is the real deal,” Poly Coach Jerry Jaso said. “He came up with a great game and we couldn’t stop him.

The biggest surprise for Mater Dei was little-used receiver Dustin Davis, who had caught 11 passes all season for 184 yards. Against Poly, which had geared its secondary to stop Kelvin Millhouse, Davis caught four for 155 yards.

The most crucial reception came in the fourth quarter, after Lewis (14-33-1, 213) hit receiver Kareem Kelly on a slant pattern for a 37-yard touchdown to close the gap to 26-19.

From his 35, Mater Dei quarterback Scott Lukash (5-8-1, 158) lofted a 30-yard pass that Davis caught at the Poly 35, and kept running until he was dragged down at the Jackrabbit four. Lukash eventually scored on a two-yard run that gave Mater Dei the winning margin.

“They played the corners so well that we thought the middle of the field might be open for a post pattern,” Davis said.

Saturday marked the third game Mater Dei has played in Edison Field this season. They defeated Los Alamitos last week, and sustained their only loss of the season Sept. 26 to Concord De La Salle, 28-21. Several De La Salle players were at the game to cheer Mater Dei on Saturday.

As they did against Los Alamitos last week, Rollinson and staff preached patience for the Monarchs on offense. Rollinson said the Monarchs planned to load up one side of the line of scrimmage, send as many blockers as possible to the point of attack, and take whatever yardage was there.

Rollinson added the Monarchs--who had given up only 23 points in their previous three playoff victories--had to be prepared for Poly being able to score a bunch of points.

“Our motto,” Rollinson said, “was don’t flinch, don’t doubt and find a way to win.”

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Titled Monarchs

Southern Section championships won by Mater Dei:

1956 Northern Division: defeated South Pasadena, 20-0

1957 Southern Division: defeated Claremont, 39-14

1960 Division 2-A: defeated Santa Ana Valley, 32-0

1965 Division 4-A: defeated Compton Centennial, 21-0

1991 Division I: defeated Rialto Eisenhower, 35-14

1994 Division I: defeated La Puente Bishop Amat, 28-21

1996 Division I: defeated Los Angeles Loyola, 17-10

1998 Division I: defeated Long Beach Poly, 33-26