Mater Dei’s Grootegoed Stands at Head of Class

You can spend hours recounting his greatest hits or while away half the night telling stories about his ability to run the football.

Those are the things, 25 years from now, fans may remember most about Santa Ana Mater Dei’s Matt Grootegoed.

Those are, however, only part of the reason Grootegoed is being labeled the greatest player in Mater Dei history and one of the best in Orange County history.

They also are the reason why Grootegoed is the winner of The Times’ 1999 Glenn Davis Award, presented annually to the top prep football player in Southern California. The award is named for the 1946 Heisman Trophy winner who attended La Verne Bonita and West Point.

Grootegoed is the second Mater Dei player to earn the award since its inception in 1987. Quarterback Billy Blanton won it in 1991.

“Every time Mater Dei needed something to happen--an interception, a big run or a defensive stop--Matt rose to the challenge,” Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “With him out there, half the time it seemed like we were playing with 12 or 13 guys.

“I think he is the greatest player in Mater Dei history. I base that statement on the fact that he has the accolades as a junior and a senior. I’m not trying to slight any previous player, but the things that Matt did were something special. And a lot of people who have watched Mater Dei, even in the ‘50s, unanimously agree with me. What do you say about a kid like that?”

Well, John Huarte might have a thing or two to say. Huarte, Mater Dei’s quarterback for three seasons during the late 1950s and early ‘60s, was selected Southern Section player of the year as a senior. He later played at Notre Dame and, as a senior in 1964, won the Heisman Trophy.

But even Huarte would concede that he wasn’t a two-way threat like the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Grootegoed, a free safety and running back who gave coaches pause at the question of whether they’d rather face him on offense or defense.

Still, despite a season in which he rushed for 891 yards, scored 14 touchdowns, made 138 tackles (seven for losses) and intercepted six passes, Grootegoed didn’t please his harshest critic: himself.

“It was pretty hard to meet my goal, which was to surpass what I did last year,” Grootegoed said. “I didn’t have as many tackles [this year], but I had twice as many interceptions and more pass deflections. I didn’t gain as many yards on offense.

“It’s pretty hard to top last year. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

Said Rollinson: “I feel Matt had an equal to if not slightly better year because the ’99 team, probably position in and position out, wasn’t as strong as the ’98 team. Matt had to make up at times for some of the players that surrounded him.”

Grootegoed’s value to his team was never more evident than in the Division I championship game against Long Beach Poly, when he sprained his right ankle on his second carry and had to sit out the rest of the game.

“When he went down, a majority of our defensive scheme went out the window and about half of our offensive scheme went out the window,” said Rollinson, whose Monarchs battled the Jackrabbits to a 21-21 tie.

Grootegoed, who had rushed for 244 yards and two touchdowns in addition to being the defensive most valuable player of Mater Dei’s 1998 championship victory over Poly, was inconsolable, especially since he had just suffered the only significant injury of his career.

“He was devastated,” Rollinson said. “No matter how many times you’d say, ‘Matt, you’re not letting anybody down, it’s just part of the game,’ he wasn’t accepting that.”

“It was a hard thing because I didn’t want to end my career at Mater Dei getting hurt,” said Grootegoed, who competed in four title games.

Fortunately for Grootegoed, he can now focus on his future, which should include a role as a defensive back or outside linebacker for one of the nation’s college football powers. He has narrowed his choices to UCLA, USC, Michigan, Washington and Notre Dame, but has yet to take a campus visit.

“I think Matt’s going to play a lot of football on Saturdays,” Rollinson said, “and I really believe we will see him play football on Sundays.”