Leinart Steps In, Leads Mater Dei to Win

It’s a new day for Mater Dei and Servite, playing in a new league called Serra. But Thursday’s meeting had an old-time Angelus League look and feel to it.

Unfortunately for Servite it also had a familiar conclusion. Mater Dei took advantage of 281 yards and four touchdown passes by quarterback Matt Leinart to register a 39-25 victory before an estimated 10,000 fans at Santa Ana Stadium.

The second-ranked Monarchs stretched their unbeaten streak against the fifth-ranked Friars to 11 games. Servite hasn’t beaten Mater Dei since the 1988 season. The teams played to a scoreless tie in 1992.

This time, Servite (5-3, 0-1) had a rare size advantage on Mater Dei. The Friars went into the game figuring if they stayed close, they could wear down the Monarchs (6-2, 1-0) the same way they had worn down Mission Hills Alemany and La Puente Bishop Amat the past two weeks.

But the Friars did not count on two things happening. One, Servite quarterback Adam Ernst, who passed for 140 yards, was intercepted three times. One came early in the third quarter, and Monarch cornerback Junior Palacios returned it 23 yards for a touchdown. That expanded Mater Dei’s lead to 25-12.

Second, the Friars could not have anticipated that Leinart--who came off the bench behind Matt Grootegoed, as he has all season--would have his best game at Mater Dei.

He completed 11 of 20 attempts and did not have an interception. He also struck for two critical fourth-down scoring passes, 76 yards to Ray Gilbert and 46 yards to Nick Stroffe, which kept Mater Dei ahead by a comfortable margin.

“I think he grew up a lot during the game tonight,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said of Leinart.

The long touchdown to Gilbert pointed out another problem that has plagued Servite all season. Its defense has been plagued by the big play.

Coming into the game, the Friars’ defense, which does a lot of blitzing and stunting, had given up 20 opposing touchdowns. Thirteen of them had covered 30 yards or more; seven scoring plays had covered 50 yards or more.

So even though the Monarchs were penalized 11 times for 110 yards; even though the Friars got two rushing touchdowns and 61 yards from fullback Chad Bystedt; and even though Servite led at one point, 13-12, with 2:26 to play in the first half, the Friars once again left the field wondering what it takes to beat Mater Dei.

“I thought you saw a great game tonight,” Rollinson said. “That [Servite] team is pretty good. But our kids played like warriors. Most of the penalties were from too much emotion. There is always a lot of emotion in this game.

“I really liked the way we battled and overcame things. There’s a lot from this game we can take into the rest of the season.”