Mater Dei Has Its Way With Capistrano Valley

Mater Dei proved a most ungracious guest Friday night at Capistrano Valley High.

The Monarchs won by 35 points, knocked two Cougar kickers out of the game, put their own kicker in at running back to score a touchdown . . . and a Mater Dei fan even won the 50/50 raffle.

When they’d had enough fun, the Monarchs loaded into their buses and cars with a 42-7 South Coast League victory, leaving Capistrano Valley Coach Dave Brown to clean up the mess.

“Our kids played them really tough, but we’re not blessed with Division I guys,” Brown said. “And if you’re going to compete with Mater Dei, you’ve got to have some real horses out there.”

Monarch running back Matt Grootegoed ran for 134 yards and three touchdowns in 12 carries, and quarterback Scott Lukash completed 8 of 13 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns.

“I saw two things tonight,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “We had a really good week of practice and it showed on offense. And the other thing is, our defense played great.”

The Monarchs (6-1, 2-0 in league) received exceptional play from senior defensive back Mike Booth, who blocked a field goal attempt, and kicker Bryan New, who converted six extra points, the final one coming after his own 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Quarterback Jeff Dixon completed eight of 16 passes for 105 yards for the Cougars (3-4, 0-2).

In another South Coast League game:

San Clemente 41, Dana Hills 21--James Allen, Chris McCormack and Chris Smith each scored two touchdowns to lead the host Tritons (4-3, 1-1).

McCormack scored on a 67-yard pass from Dan Coviello to extend San Clemente’s lead to 27-7 with less than two minutes left in the first half.

Dana Hills (2-5, 0-2) scored one touchdown in the first quarter and two in the fourth.