Mater Dei (11-2) vs. Long Beach Poly (13-0)

7:40 TONIGHT EDISON FIELD

Long Beach Poly Coach Jerry Jaso still has nightmares of Matt Grootegoed busting up his defense for 244 yards and two touchdowns in last year’s title game. “I don’t know if anybody’s ever played as good a championship game as he did,” Jaso said. Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said he doubts that Grootegoed will bring it as often as he did last year. “What you’ll see is a more balanced offense,” Rollinson said. “Matt carried it 32 times last year. I don’t see that happening again. But I do think Matt will go out in a blaze of glory.”

KEY PLAYERS

Mater Dei

RB/S Matt Grootegoed

887 yds., 14 TDs, 6 Ints

QB Matt Leinart

63%, 2,003 yds., 13 TDs

RB Junior Palacios

1,268 yds., 17 TDs

Long Beach Poly

RB Hershel Dennis

1,403 yds. rush, 21 TDs

MLB Reggie Butler

team-leading 100 tackles

QB Brandon Fasavalu

1,200 yds., 17 TDs, 12 Ints.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

STARTING LINEUPS

MATER DEI OFFENSE

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QB 7 Matt Leinart Jr. 6-5 215 TB 32 Junior Palacios Sr. 5-11 175 FB 34 Aaron Blalock Sr. 5-11 220 C 73 Tomas Mercado Sr. 5-10 240 G 57 Steve Carrillo Jr. 6-2 280 G 77 Dan Owens Sr. 5-11 270 T 58 Ed Fane Jr. 6-2 280 T 70 Steve Markus Sr. 6-3 250 TE 85 Lewis Clapp Sr. 6-0 215 SE 15 Nick Stroffe Sr. 6-1 185 FL 18 Jeff Diulior Jr. 5-11 175 K 38 Bryan New Jr. 5-10 165

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MATER DEI DEFENSE

*--*

DT 51 Angel Lopez Sr. 6-2 260 DT 74 Steve Armstrong Sr. 6-2 250 NG 65 Ray Roblero Sr. 5-11 285 LB 37 Matt Acalin Sr. 6-2 195 LB 45 Tyler Kruse Sr. 6-2 225 LB 42 Ian Gunderman Jr. 6-0 230 LB 15 Nick Stroffe Sr. 6-1 185 CB 32 Junior Palacios Sr. 5-11 175 CB 24 Cameron Carmona So. 5-8 150 SS 5 Ray Gilbert Sr. 6-0 185 FS 6 Matt Grootegoed Sr. 6-1 205 P 38 Bryan New Jr. 5-10 165

*--*

LONG BEACH POLY OFFENSE

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QB 9 Brandon Fasavalu Sr. 6-1 190 TB 2 Hershel Dennis So. 5-10 170 FB 1 Keith Williams Sr. 5-8 180 C 77 William Kofe Sr. 6-3 210 G 54 Seth Tago Sr. 6-2 290 G 50 Paueli Tamasoa Jr. 6-1 250 T 79 Dawan Oldham Sr. 6-2 235 T 55 Mason Mitchell Sr. 6-2 270 TE 85 Mercedes Lewis So. 6-5 200 WR 17 Raymond Moten Sr. 5-11 180 WR 4 Dante Washington Sr. 5-11 170 K 70 Javier Torres Jr. 5-7 156

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LONG BEACH POLY DEFENSE

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DE 84 Charles Jones Sr. 6-3 241 DE 77 William Kofe Sr. 6-3 210 DT 54 Seth Tago Sr. 6-2 290 DT 7 Raymond Tago Jr. 6-3 250 LB 95 Junior Taliauli Jr. 5-9 181 LB 32 Reggie Butler Sr. 6-1 210 LB 5 DeAndre Parks Sr. 5-11 170 CB 25 Carlos Velasquez Sr. 5-10 175 CB 37 Ernest James Sr. 6-0 170 SS 2 Justin Marshall Sr. 5-11 185 FS 23 Marley Tucker Sr. 6-0 170 P 91 Charlie Hayes Sr. 6-2 185

*--*

SEASON LOGS

MATER DEI (11-2)

17 Fresno Clovis West 24

35 Loara 0

0 Concord De La Salle 42

35 Irvine 14

37 L.A. Banning 0

31 Santa Fe Springs St. Paul 10

14 L.A. Loyola 7

39 Servite 25

34 Santa Margarita 0

28 Bellflower St. John Bosco 0

PLAYOFFS

36 Redlands 14

45 Mission Hills Alemany 14

28 Rialto Eisenhower 21

LONG BEACH POLY (13-0)

19 Vista 14

13 L.A. Banning 0

21 Santa Barbara 13

28 Fontana 14

33 Compton Dominguez 7

29 Long Beach Wilson 15

45 Long Beach Jordan 0

34 Long Beach Millikan 17

72 Compton 6

20 Lakewood 6

PLAYOFFS

28 Fountain Valley 20

21 A.B. Miller 7

35 Los Alamitos 9