A Battle of Imposing Streaks

There’s a streak, and there’s the streak.

One of them will end Saturday night at University of the Pacific in Stockton, where Santa Ana Mater Dei High will play Concord De La Salle, and chances are it will be the streak known only to Monarch football historians.

Mater Dei, coming off a 28-14 loss to Mission Viejo, has not suffered consecutive defeats since 1990, when the Monarchs lost back-to-back games to Paramount and La Puente Bishop Amat late in the regular season. The factoid, amazing as it is, is so obscure that even Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson was not aware of it.

By contrast, almost everyone who pays the slightest bit of attention to high school football is conscious of the streak. De La Salle is riding a national-record 114-game winning streak and hasn’t lost since Dec. 4, 1991, when the Spartans fell to Pittsburg, 35-27, in the championship game of the North Coast Section playoffs.

Rollinson has labeled De La Salle (1-0), ranked No. 1 in the nation by Associated Press, “huge favorites” coming into the fourth and final meeting between the powers from Northern and Southern California.

Negotiations to extend the series ended Wednesday, according to Mater Dei Athletic Director Gary McKnight, when De La Salle officials said there was a “90%” chance they would play an opponent in Hawaii next September. There was talk of Mater Dei also traveling to Hawaii, possibly to play De La Salle, but McKnight said the trip would pose too many logistical problems unless it was taken before school started.

“I’m very disappointed,” McKnight said. “We wanted to keep the series going.”

The Spartans have won all three games in the series by a combined score of 101-49, though only one of the games--a 42-0 De La Salle victory in Stockton in 1999--was a blowout.

Rollinson concedes that Saturday’s game could quickly turn into a rout if his Monarchs (1-1) commit the same kind of blunders they did last week against Mission Viejo. Mater Dei’s offense sputtered from the start, as quarterback Colt Brennan was ineffective and highly touted running back Rafael Rice managed only 43 yards in 17 carries.

“We have done a great job of spreading the wealth of mistakes,” Rollinson said. “We’re going to need to do everything so far beyond what we’ve shown to pull this one off. We’re just going to have to depend on our kids to rise to the occasion.”

Part of the Monarchs’ woes can be traced to the loss of starting linemen Vince Ortiz, a senior captain, and Adam Hurtado. Ortiz broke his ankle in Week 1, and Hurtado injured a knee in Week 2 and is scheduled to have surgery today. Both are lost for the season and will be replaced by players with little experience.

Nonetheless, De La Salle knows better than to take Mater Dei lightly, Spartan defensive coordinator Terry Eidson said.

“You can’t look at a team like that and say we’ve got their number,” said Eidson, whose team has handed the Monarchs three of their seven losses over the last three-plus seasons. “We know they’re going to show up. They play us tough every year.”

In truth, Mater Dei’s best effort may not be enough. The Spartans will rely on quarterback Matt Gutierrez, who has carved up the Monarch defense for 497 yards and eight touchdown passes in two games, as well as running backs Nate Kenion, Elijah Bradley and Maurice Drew. Bradley and Drew possess breakaway speed, while Kenion specializes in making defenders miss.

With so much talent, some, including Mater Dei wide receiver Matt Haugen, have speculated that De La Salle could be caught looking ahead to its Oct. 6 showdown against Long Beach Poly, ranked No. 3 by the Associated Press.

“We look at it as, there’s no way they’re going to be gearing up for us,” said Haugen, who caught a touchdown pass against the Spartans last season. “We feel that we can win. We have to play above our level, but it’s possible.”

Changing stations: The radio broadcast of Mater Dei’s game against De La Salle on Saturday has been moved from KPLS-AM (830) to KKLA-FM (99.5) because of a conflict with USC football.

Qualifications eased: The Southern Section has announced that teams that have played nine games this season as a result of last week’s cancellations in the wake of the terrorist attacks, can petition for at-large playoff berths if they have at least four victories.

Previously, teams needed a .500-or-better record to qualify for consideration for at-large berths.

Puzzling fall: Long Beach Poly dropped a spot to No. 3 in this week’s Associated Press national prep poll without losing; the Jackrabbits’ intersectional game against Wilmington Banning was canceled. Did Poly fall because the new No. 2 team looked impressive in victory? Hardly. Jenks (Okla.) High had its game against rival Tulsa Union canceled as well.

Los Angeles Loyola, which checks in at No. 24, is the only other Southern California team ranked in the national poll.