Mater Dei Returns to Comfort Zone

Mater Dei returned to the comforts of Orange County Friday at Irvine High, and the Monarchs, ranked fourth in the county, soundly defeated sixth-ranked Irvine, 35-14, in a nonleague game in front of an overflow crowd of 4,200.

After losing to Northern California power Concord De La Salle last week, Mater Dei scored on three of its first four possessions Friday to take a 21-point lead it would never relinquish.

Mater Dei’s Matt Grootegoed, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound quarterback/running back/safety, rushed for 128 yards in 10 carries, scored three touchdowns and intercepted a pass and Tyler Kruze had two sacks to lead a hard-hitting defense.

Irvine (2-1-1) drew to within, 28-14, with 7 minutes 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter and forced Mater Dei (2-2) to punt.

But Irvine’s Chris Sinner bobbled the ensuing kick, went down, and Mater Dei recovered the disputed fumble at the Irvine 39.

Grootegoed cashed in the opportunity, scoring his third touchdown on a 17-yard run with 3:46 remaining in the third quarter and Irvine never threatened again.

“The first half was the key not that punt play,” Irvine Coach Terry Henigan said. “Early on, we got out-hit and out-coached.”

And players like Grootegoed can make a coach look good.

Grootegoed started the game at quarterback, completing four of five passes for 56 yards, but ended up splitting time at the position with Matt Leinert. Leinert, a 6-foot-5 junior, completed 11 of 14 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.

“Everyone’s waiting around for me to make a decision on who is our starting quarterback,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “The fact is, we’ll do what we think we can have the best success with.

“You saw tonight, they’re a pretty tough combination to stop. And both guys know the situation and they’re fine with it.”

With Grootegoed at quarterback, Mater Dei started fast.

He scored on the first play from scrimmage, taking the snap before moving right on an option play. Then Grootegoed scooted around the right end and sprinted untouched, 60 yards, for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead just 3:20 into the game.

Then he completed three passes to highlight a 64-yard scoring drive, capped by Junior Palacios’ four-yard touchdown run with 1:32 remaining in the first quarter to make it 14-7.

And Grootegoed’s 16-yard touchdown run, off another option play, gave the Monarchs a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Irvine played Mater Dei to a 7-7 tie in the second half. Keith Short rushed for 84 yards in 16 carries, Mike Ricci had a touchdown pass and Godfrey Young’s one-yard touchdown run capped a 62-yard scoring drive in the third quarter.