No. 1 Mater Dei defeats No. 3 Corona Centennial in season opener

Santa Ana Mater Dei is considered No. 1 in California and the nation by high school football experts, but there’s a reason Corona Centennial coach Matt Logan isn’t afraid to play the Monarchs. He wants to see where his team stands, and he found out in Friday night‘s season opener that the Huskies can hang with the best.

“We’re right there,” Logan told his players afterward. “We’re right there.”

Mater Dei finally put away the Huskies with a fourth-quarter touchdown to secure a 28-14 victory before a sold-out crowd at Centennial.

To learn in Game 1 that you can survive eight sacks and still fight back is what made Logan feel excited.

“They’re unbelievable,” he said of Mater Dei’s defensive unit, which was blitzing all night, trying to make new Centennial quarterback Husan Longstreet uncomfortable.

Yet Centennial pulled to within 21-14 with 4:30 left when cornerback Tayten Beyer, a San Diego State commit, intercepted an Elijah Brown pass and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown.

It was the high moment for a Huskies team that came alive in the second half after trailing 14-0.

But Mater Dei, showing its toughness and experience, didn’t give the Huskies a chance of coming all the way back. The Monarchs started handing the ball off to Jordon Davison and moved downfield, with Nate Frazier scoring on a six-yard run with 2:22 left to seal the victory. Davison rushed for 117 yards in 18 carries.

The big surprise in the first half was a rare ineffective passing performance from Brown, a four-year starter. Six of his first seven passes were incomplete. Receivers were open too. Accuracy has been Brown’s strength. He still came through with a fourth-down, 23-yard strike to Marcus Brown in the second quarter for a 7-0 lead. A Davison six-yard touchdown run made it 14-0 before halftime. Elijah Brown finished 17 of 29 passing for 191 yards.

Mater Dei kept blitzing after Centennial failed to get any traction running the ball, and that made for a challenging first half for Longstreet. His most impressive plays came on scrambles when Mater Dei’s pressure in the middle forced him out of the pocket. The Monarchs recorded four first-half sacks, including two by junior linebacker Abduall Sanders Jr. Jeilani Davis finished with a team-high 10 tackles.

Logan hoped his team would be able to free Cornell Hatcher to run the ball. It finally happened in the second half, and he finished with 98 yards and a touchdown.

Longstreet said afterward, “I have to see things faster.”

Mater Dei first-year coach Frank McManus said he was thrilled with his team’s defensive performance. His team did get a little tired in the second half, which he said will be taken care of with additional conditioning.

Both teams can take away plenty of additional knowledge after this early meeting of Southern Section Division 1 powers.

“We know where we’re at and we know what we can be,” Logan said.

Tim Larkins passed for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to help Hart defeat Quartz Hill 14-7 in the return of coach Rick Herrington, who underwent a heart transplant in the offseason.

Anthony League, a junior running back at Los Alamitos who was the backup last season, rushed for 314 yards and six touchdowns in a 62-25 win over Western.

St. Paul, under first-year coach Mike Moschetti, picked up a 24-22 win over Newport Harbor. That sets up an old-school Catholic school rivalry game next week against Bishop Amat.

Two quarterbacks who traded schools opened well. Wyatt Becker, who left Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for Sierra Canyon, completed 14 of 16 passes for 189 yards in a 9-7 win over JSerra. Steele Pizzella, who left Simi Valley for Notre Dame, was 18-of-26 passing for 275 yards and three TDs in 42-0 win over Peninsula.

Caleb Sanchez waited patiently four years to start at quarterback for St. John Bosco. It began with completing 21 of 25 passes for 242 yards and three TDs in 42-22 win over Henderson (Nev.) Liberty.

Orange Lutheran served notice that it will be the team to challenge St. John Bosco and Mater Dei in the Trinity League with a 47-19 rout of Gardena Serra. Quarterback TJ Lateef passed for 193 yards and a score while running for a TD.