No. 3 Mater Dei Struggles but Defeats San Clemente

Whenever Mater Dei faces San Clemente, the Monarchs expect a tough game. Few South Coast League teams have challenged Mater Dei like the Tritons.

But usually the third-ranked Monarchs find a way to win, and Thursday at Santa Ana Stadium was no different.

It took three touchdowns from Matt Grootegoed, and a key fourth-quarter interception by Justin Patterson, but Mater Dei prevailed, 28-14.

Although the Monarch defense kept the high-powered Triton offense in check most of the game, holding San Clemente to 161 yards, Coach Bruce Rollinson couldn’t relax until the final gun.

“They play us as well as anyone does,” said Rollinson, whose team improved to 5-1, 1-0. “I’m happy to get out of here with a win tonight.”

When Mater Dei moves to the Catholic Athletic Association next year, Rollinson said he hoped the teams could continue to schedule each other in nonleague games.

“We have it penciled in for next year, and I hope we can do it,” Rollinson said

While 10th-ranked San Clemente (3-3, 0-1) had trouble moving the ball, the Tritons’ plan was to keep things close and find a way to steal the win in the fourth quarter. It worked in 1995 when the Tritons beat the Monarchs--one of two league losses Mater Dei has sustained in the South Coast League.

The same scenario presented itself Thursday. Trailing 21-0 after the first half, the Tritons stormed back in the third quarter. After a blocked punt them at the Monarchs’ 35-yard line, San Clemente surprised Mater Dei with the hook-and-ladder play. Quarterback Dan Coviello passed to Johnny Morgan, who lateraled to James Allen III at the 20, and Allen ran the rest of the way untouched.

Then San Clemente’s defense delivered a big play--a 17-yard sack of Monarch quarterback Scott Lukash who fumbled. Triton nose tackle Mike Calvitti recovered at the Mater Dei 30. When Allen scored on a one-yard run with 10:05 left in the game, San Clemente was exactly where it wanted to be.

“I thought then we had a chance,” San Clemente Coach Mark McElroy said.

But Patterson intercepted a Coviello pass at the Triton 17 and returned it to the one-yard line with 4:52 to play.

“It was the third time they had run that play,” Patterson said. “The second time they made a nice completion. This time I saw the ball leave his hand and I went for it.”

Grootegoed, who rushed for 103 yards in 13 carries, did the rest. He had sandwiched scoring runs of 12 and 22 yards around Lukash’s nine-yard touchdown pass to Dustin Davis to give Mater Dei a 21-0 first-half lead. “This was fun tonight,” said Grootegoed, who is the second string quarterback behind Lukash. “I like being quarterback, but I’ll play anywhere they want me to.”