Clovis West Knocks Off Mater Dei : Prep football: Fresno team avenges last season’s loss with 24-17 victory over the highly touted Monarchs.

As new wrinkles go, this one wasn’t very smooth.

Mater Dei, with only nine returning starters from last year’s Southern Section champion, had enough expectations for 22 starters.

It just didn’t have the talent.

The Monarchs were beaten on Saturday, 24-17, in front of 8,500 by Fresno Clovis West, which used the tricky Delaware wing-T to confuse the Mater Dei defense and avenge last year’s loss.

“Their young players were better than our young players,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “They made plays and we didn’t--it’s as simple as that.”

Mater Dei went into the game ranked No. 1 in Orange County and, in one publication, No. 4 in the nation and No. 1 in the West Region. Clovis West was ranked No. 4 in the region.

But the Golden Eagles played like the champions. They made big plays on offense and defense. Clovis West, which had three members of the school’s 400-meter relay team in the backfield, had scoring runs of 21, 58 and 55 yards.

And when Mater Dei was trying to tie the score at 17 in the final two minutes--and driving--Perron Wiley came up with a critical interception.

Next play, Ryan Ledger broke a 55-yard touchdown run.

“We were out for revenge,” Wiley said. “It just didn’t work out last year.”

The Monarchs knew they were in for a battle.

Mater Dei won last year’s game, 21-14, when a blocked field-goal attempt landed in the arms of Monarch holder Scott Lukash, who ran in for the touchdown. The game ended with the Eagles unable to score on four downs from the 10 in the final minute.

Mater Dei managed a touchdown in the final minute Saturday, a 17-yard pass from Matt Leinert to Jeff Diulio with 32 seconds remaining, but the Monarchs were unable to recover the onside kick.

Ledger rushed 12 times for 130 yards, including scoring runs of 24 and 55 yards. Fullback Ryan Harrick rushed 20 times for 110 yards, including a 58-yard score.

Leinert completed 11 of 17 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Starter Matt Grootegoed completed four of eight for 58 yards.

“Leinert’s going to be a great quarterback,” Rollinson said. “But Grootegoed’s our starter; there is no controversy.”

Mater Dei scored first, with 1:43 left in the first quarter, on Bryan New’s 25-yard field goal. The Monarchs began the drive at their 43, and got a 23-yard pass from Grootegoed to Ray Gilbert to move the ball to the 12-yard line. But from there, the Clovis West defense stiffened.

Leinert, a left-handed junior, took over at quarterback in the second quarter for Mater Dei and got immediate results. He completed all five of his passes in a 75-yard, nine-play drive that ended with Junior Palacios scoring from one yard. New added the extra point to give the Monarchs a 10-7 lead at 7:10 in the first quarter.

Clovis West was unfazed.

After both teams punted, the Golden Eagles put together an 85-yard drive. Ledger, who also had an 18-yard gain, scored on an inside reverse around left end from 24 yards, evading the tackle of Grootegoed.