Mater Dei Knocked Out of First

Ashton White’s return from injury provided a spark for Santa Margarita and helped the Eagles to a 19-0 upset over Santa Ana Mater Dei in a Serra League game played in a steady rain Saturday night at Trabuco Hills.

White, who had missed three games with a sore knee, carried 30 times for 77 yards and scored two touchdowns in a quagmire to help the Eagles knock the Monarchs out of first place in the league.

Mater Dei (7-2, 3-1), which managed just 107 yards of offense, can still win a share of the league title with a victory over Bellflower St. John Bosco (7-2, 4-0) on Thursday.

Monarch miscues on punts set up two first-half scores for the Eagles. White scored on a one-yard run late in the second quarter after Mater Dei punter Tim Chicoine slipped and went to a knee at his own 35 as he fielded a wide snap. Two plays later, Santa Margarita quarterback Case Colaw ran 33 yards to the one.

On its next possession, Mater Dei was forced to punt from its 28-yard line. Eagle Mark Restelli shot through the line, blocked Chicoine’s punt, scooped it up at the two, and dove into the end zone to make it 13-0 with 38 seconds left in the half. Mater Dei blocked the extra-point attempt.

Santa Margarita (6-3, 1-3) continued to clamp down on defense. Monarch running back Rafael Rice finished with 51 yards in 10 carries and quarterback Jason Forcier completed one of 10 passes for 14 yards with an interception.

Santa Margarita, which had 162 yards of offense, capped the scoring on White’s five-yard run with 1:36 to play.

-- Mark Alai

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La Puente Bishop Amat 21, L.A. Loyola 7 -- The Knights turned in a squeaky-clean performance in the middle of a mud bath by rushing for 246 yards with only one fumble in a Serra League game at Glendale High.

Chris Seals rushed 17 times for 109 yards and a touchdown and Andrew Soto had 81 yards in 17 carries for Bishop Amat (4-5, 1-3) which kept its playoff hopes alive.

Loyola had eight fumbles -- six on snaps to the quarterback -- and lost two, one of which Bishop Amat returned 30 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

Loyola (6-3, 1-3) closed to within 14-7 when Bo Renaud scored from four yards on Loyola’s first possession of the second half, but Seals ran in from 28 yards with 2:19 to play to seal the victory.

Renaud had 113 yards in 21 carries for Loyola, which had just 121 total yards.

-- Peter Yoon