Barkley, Mater Dei power past Servite

It’s premature to start predicting that quarterback Matt Barkley of Santa Ana Mater Dei might one day become his school’s third Heisman Trophy recipient, but performances such as Friday night’s at a rocking Angel Stadium get people dreaming.

Barkley, a 6-foot-4 junior, threw touchdown passes of 68 and 42 yards to his cousin, Robbie Boyer, then teamed with Andrew Abbott on a stunning 97-yard touchdown play despite an arm wrapped around his leg, and it was enough to lift the Monarchs past Anaheim Servite, 38-13, to force a three-way tie for first place in the Trinity League.

Servite had closed to within 21-13 at the outset of the fourth quarter on a D.J. Shoemate one-yard touchdown run. Mater Dei faced a third-and-11 situation from its own three. Barkley was in the end zone, seemingly ready to be sacked by Evan Huahulu, but he was able to throw a spiral over the middle to Abbott, who caught it and sprinted into the end zone for the decisive touchdown.

Barkley finished 16 of 24 for 348 yards. He has thrown 31 touchdown passes this season. He also scored his first touchdown on a 13-yard run to give the Monarchs a 14-0 halftime lead.

Virtually all of Servite’s offensive focus revolved around Shoemate, who carried the ball 18 times for 74 yards in the first half and finished with 142 yards in 32 carries.

Fans came out 22,000 strong for this Catholic school rivalry game that took on added significance in that Mater Dei used it to raise funds for its season-long Monarchs for Marines service project.

It was the largest crowd of the Southland football season, with fans filling Angel Stadium’s lower, middle and upper decks on the third base side, plus the left-field bleachers.

Now comes a potential worst-case scenario for Southern Section officials entrusted with putting together the 16-team Pac-5 Division playoff draw.

That’s because it will take coin flips this morning to break up the three-way Trinity League deadlock between Mater Dei (8-1, 3-1), Servite (7-2, 3-1) and Orange Lutheran (8-1, 3-1). It’s entirely possible that Mater Dei, the consensus No. 1 team in the Southland most of the season, could end up as a third-place representative, setting off a heated debate how to create an equitable playoff bracket.

“Those kind of things really do make things complicated,” said Rob Wigod, an assistant Southern Section administrator earlier this week.

As it stands, Long Beach Poly (9-1), the Moore League champion, should receive the No. 1 seed on Sunday, but after that, it’s anyone’s guess, especially after Encino Crespi upset Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 23-3, to win the Serra League championship.

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eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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