Mater Dei Upended by Santa Margarita

The exhilaration still evident in his eyes, Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan stood on the Cal State Fullerton field Friday night and tried to explain the magnitude of his Eagles’ 21-14 Serra League upset of Mater Dei.

“It’s not a CIF championship, but it’s right up there,” said Hartigan, who has won two lower-division Southern Section titles. “To beat Mater Dei, to beat [Monarch Coach] Bruce Rollinson, to beat the No. 1 team in [Orange County], it doesn’t get much better than that.”

The Eagles (7-2, 2-0 in league play) forced a turnover and blocked a punt that led to 14 first-half points, and controlled the tempo with a ground-oriented attack, avenging last season’s 34-0 defeat to the Monarchs (7-2, 1-1).

“Last year, the first time we played Mater Dei, we were a little intimidated because we had only heard about playing them,” said Santa Margarita running back Tyler Thompson, who scored two touchdowns and forced a fumble. “This year, we got our heads into it and figured out they’re a team just like anyone else.”

The Eagles got off to a flying start when Thompson stripped the ball from Mater Dei running back Camron Carmona on the first series. Ashton White scooped up the ball and returned it to the Monarch nine-yard line, and Thompson ran for a touchdown on the next play to put Santa Margarita ahead, 7-0.

After the teams traded touchdowns, White blocked Bryan New’s punt deep in Monarch territory. Eagle defensive end Alex Huston recovered the ball on the Mater Dei one, and quarterback Matt Dlugolecki ran into the end zone two plays later for a 21-7 advantage.

Mater Dei tacked on its final score when Matt Leinart passed to Jeff Diulio with 36 seconds to go in the first half--the duo’s second touchdown connection, this one from 21 yards.

Neither team scored in the second half as Santa Margarita continued to rely on its grind-it-out running game. Thompson finished with 92 yards on 31 carries, ending a streak of two consecutive games with at least 200 yards, and White gained 47 yards in 11 carries.

“It’s kind of a blur,” Rollinson said. “They ran it down our throats and we made mistakes. We’re going to have to regroup big-time.’

Mater Dei could lose what was expected to be a No. 2 seeding in the playoffs and could face Long Beach Poly before the championship game. Santa Margarita can clinch its first Serra League title with a victory next week over Anaheim Servite.