Mater Dei finds a bigger purpose

Robert Mojica didn’t catch the name of the PFC from the Marine Corps that night after his football game against Santa Margarita.

He doesn’t remember which four teammates he was with in the Santa Ana Mater Dei locker room at the time, but he remembers the words vividly because they knocked him over like a bazooka blast.

The soldier pointed at the patch sewn into Mojica’s jersey, the Guadalcanal patch, the official emblem of the 1st Marine Division from Camp Pendleton.

“He sat us down with this stern look and said that patch means a lot to him and to the guys in his unit,” Mojica recalled. “He said guys are getting blown up for that patch.”

Not decleated. Not burned deep. Blown up.

“It really helped me realize it was a lot more than some decoration,” Mojica said. “We have to remember the guys who have fought and died for that symbol. I’ll never forget the way he spoke about that patch because I’ve never seen someone talk so deeply about something.”

And that’s saying something, because Mojica plays running back for Bruce Rollinson, an impassioned motivator in his 19th season as Mater Dei’s coach.

Rollinson likes these stories, though, because they’re the result of the football team’s community service project, “Monarchs for Marines,” also known as “M4M.”

One thousand tickets have been handed out to Pendleton Marines and their families for the Trinity League game Friday between Mater Dei and Anaheim Servite at Angel Stadium.

Three dollars from every adult ticket sold and Mater Dei’s share of the evening’s 50/50 raffle will go into a charity earmarked for the families of wounded and fallen Marines.

In nine months, M4M has generated more than $100,000 in money or product.

“I always liked what we do, but I never felt there was real meat and potatoes,” Rollinson said. “I wanted to sink my teeth into something different. Hopefully, we can establish a blueprint here that others can follow.”

The project was the brainchild of Les and Beverly Barkley, parents of quarterback Matt Barkley.

“I went into it because I wanted to take that next step for my team and, I suppose, for myself,” Rollinson said. “You get older, you say, ‘Wait, I’ve got everything. It’s time to give back.’ ”

Perhaps no Mater Dei player was more deeply affected than Mojica. Last February, before he ever heard of M4M, he was looking at Ivy League and Division I-AA colleges so that he could continue playing football. Now, the military academies are on his radar.

“I really want to play, I love the game,” said Mojica, who is 5 feet 9 1/2 inches and 170 pounds. “My size might prevent me from playing at a big-time program, but the military looks past that and will look at the heart and determination of a player.”

To this point, the cornerstone of the M4M project was a July 21 trip to Camp Pendleton. Members of the football program traded shoulder pads for rakes, shovels and paint. They refurbished three youth centers on the North San Diego County base, painted murals, did landscaping, installed a sand volleyball court and erected tether ball standards.

They conducted football camps too, and the arrival of the school’s dance team led to age-related activities for more than 500 children of Marines stationed there. There was even a football practice with the base’s contact football team.

After the Monarchs hosted a barbecue for 1,500 displaced soldiers and family members whose loved ones are deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, Brigadier General Richard Mills said the 22,000 Marines of the 1st Division based at Camp Pendleton had a new hometown team.

Mills then oversaw the 12 Marines who gave each Monarchs player Guadalcanal patches for their home and away jerseys. Moments later, the ceremony concluded with Mater Dei’s Pride Drill, the synchronized drill that takes place after every football game.

“That was really one of the best moments in my life,” said Khaled Holmes, a left tackle who is one of the most highly regarded recruits in the nation.

When Holmes wasn’t swinging a pick to break the rock where the volleyball court was to be, he was trying to keep upright from playful children intent on bringing down his 6-foot-5, 295-pound frame.

Holmes called the experience eye-opening. “To see someone the same age as you, maybe a couple months older, brave enough to put his life in danger for you . . . that’s an amazing thought. I don’t know if I would be able to put myself in that position.

“There’s definite gratitude, for sure. You couldn’t be more thankful for these men and women. There’s reverence too, because you don’t know if you yourself could do what they’re being asked.”

Holmes hopes to play professionally one day, and said that he can certainly see himself serving others in the future because of his M4M experience.

Chais Pinesett, a tight end and defensive tackle, knew he liked working with children, but after spending the day at Camp Pendleton, tending to the needs of a special education youngster, he knew he wanted to make a career of it.

“I had a blast, and his smile stuck with me to this day,” Pinesett said. “He wasn’t doing the drills, and I wanted to make him feel included.”

But there was something else that happened too. The segregation that existed within the team disappeared, Pinesett said. “Afterward, there were no more cliques. It wasn’t about us.”

It was about something bigger.

“It makes you take a step back,” Holmes said. “How important, really, is what I’m doing -- whatever it may be.”

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martin.henderson@latimes.com