Preps: Mater Dei Monarchs still rule
SoCal powerhouse plays St. John Bosco seeking repeat National title
Here we go again. It will be No. 1 Mater Dei vs. No. 5 St. John Bosco for the SoCal and possibly the National Championship.
Mater Dei crushed Centennial of Corona 36-7 on Friday in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal at Centennial High, televised by the National Federation of High School Broadcasting Network.
The Monarchs (11-0) will play St. John Bosco (11-1) in the championship game next Friday, Nov. 29, at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.
In its Friday night game, Bosco held on for a 20-17 win over Orange Lutheran in a CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal.
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National Top Seven Check-in
(Team ratings are by High School Football America)
No. 2 Bishop Gorman can keep its national championship hopes alive when it faces No. 109 Arbor View for the Nevada 5A Division I championship on November 26 at Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders.
No. 3 Milton has advanced to the second round of Georgia’s 5A playoffs. This week, the Eagles will play Dutchtown on Friday.
Georgia’s 5A bracket is loaded with three 2023 champs, led by Milton, who won the 7A state title last year. Also in the class is No. 62 Thomas County Central, winners of last year’s 6A crown, and No. 67 Coffee, the ’23 Class 5A champ.
At the end of last season, Georgia eliminated the 7A classification, making 6A the largest classification. Milton, which had been “playing up” for many years, decided to drop to 5A, which was more in line with its enrollment number.
No. 4 Duncanville is looking for a three-peat in the biggest classification in Texas. The Panthers play in the 6A Division I Region II quarterfinals this week against Rockwall, which spent a large part of the season in the HFSA’s Top 300.
No. 5 St. John Bosco defeated Orange Luthern, 20-17, Friday and moves on to face No. 1, and defending national champion, Mater Dei on Friday, Nov. 29.
No. 6 Archbishop Spalding closed out a perfect season last Saturday, winning the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship with a 31-7 win over McDonogh. It was the third straight championship for the Cavaliers, who outscored their opponents 487-34 this season.
No. 7 North Shore is still in the national championship hunt. The Mustangs, who have played Duncanville for the last three 6A Division I titles, play No. 169 Ridge Point this week.
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Mater Dei cruised to top-program status in the nation this season. Coach Raul Lara’s squad took down Nevada’s Bishop Gorman, swiftly defeated its Trinity League opposition en route to another crown, and kept rolling through the competition as the possibility of equaling the program’s undefeated 2017 campaign crept into focus.
Mater Dei beat St. John Bosco in last year’s Division 1 final 35-7 for the Monarchs’ 13th CIF-SS football championship.
They are 3-3 in championship games against the Braves since their first championship game encounter in 2018.
Mater Dei beat St. John Bosco 59-14 this season in a Trinity League game.
The Monarchs, No. 1 in various national rankings, paid a price for Friday’s semifinal win; how steep of a price remains to be seen. A couple of players limped off of the field during the hard-hitting game, including senior quarterback Dash Beierly. Beierly was blasted on an end-around run late in the second quarter, was on the ground for a few minutes and after being helped to the Mater Dei sideline did not return.
In the first half, Centennial (9-3) muffed an attempted punt in its red zone to give the Monarchs the ball at the one-yard line. Beierly then snuck the ball in for a touchdown. Longstreet threw his second interception in the third quarter, leading Daryus Dixson to high-step into the end zone on a 32-yard pick-six.
Mistakes such as those flipped the game on its head for Centennial, which was down only 9-7 after defensive back Dean Gibson — a sophomore filling in for beat-up running backs Malachi Roby and Braylin Drake — stormed for a 51-yard run and a 16-yard touchdown scramble with 6:53 left in the second quarter.
Gibson, who ran for 81 yards all season, rushed for 101 yards Friday night. Longstreet, who flipped his Texas A&M commitment to USC earlier in the week, threw for fewer than 100 yards —just the second time this season — on 10-for-23 passing with three interceptions and a fumble.
Furian Inferrera, a sophomore, replaced Beierly, threw a touchdown pass in the second quarter and played much of the second half. Senior quarterback Chase Wegener finished up in the fourth quarter for the Monarchs.
Mater Dei’s Penn State-committed senior cornerback Daryus Dixson returned an interception 32 yards for a touchdown, Aaryn Washington had an interception for the Monarchs and they recovered two fumbles.
Centennial junior running back Malachi Roby, who rushed for 206 yards and two touchdowns last week in the Huskies’ win over Mission Viejo in the quarterfinals, did not play Friday.
The Monarchs' defensive quality shined on Centennial’s home turf — a rowdy, sold-out road environment. Oregon commit Nasir Wyatt’s second-quarter strip-sack, tearing Huskies quarterback Husan Longstreet to the ground, was just one of many defensive stands Mater Dei made on its way to a 36-7 rout over Centennial and an 11-0 record.
“Coach Lara talked all week about coming out dominating Husan for four quarters,” Wyatt said. “I feel like this is probably one of his worst games of the season. But that’s what you get playing against the best defense in the world.”
Much like 2017 — and many years since — St. John Bosco secured a spot in the Southern Section Division 1 championship with a 20-17 victory over Orange Lutheran.
Some information and data from Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times, and ratings from High School Football America. We watched live game coverage via the National Federation of High School Broadcasting Network (NFHS)