No. 1-ranked Mater Dei turned in a dominating defensive performance in the second half Thursday night to pull away from No. 2 Corona Centennial and give new coach Raul Lara a 42-25 victory in a football opener at Santa Ana Stadium.
Junior linebacker Shaun Scott put together a sequence of plays late in the third quarter that left the Huskies unable to respond. Scott recorded a sack, then blocked a punt on the next play, enabling Tomuhimi Topui to pick up the ball and run seven yards for the touchdown and a 32-17 lead.
Oregon commit Jordon Davison was Mater Dei’s workhorse, rushing for 121 yards in 20 carries and scoring on a 44-yard run in the first quarter when Mater Dei took a 15-0 lead. The Monarchs outscored Centennial 20-7 in the second half.
With the best quarterback in the state, Texas A&M commit Husan Longstreet, staying on the sideline to keep healing a toe injury, Corona Centennial did what it usually does — turns to the next man up. Junior Dominick Catalano had some impressive moments running the ball and completed 17 of 32 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns while also running in a touchdown. He had two interceptions and a lost fumble that were costly.
“We’ll be all right,” Centennial coach Matt Logan said. “We’ll get better. That’s why we play these games. We played with a backup quarterback who played his butt off.”
Centennial fought back from a 15-0 early deficit to trail 22-17 at halftime despite giving up touchdowns after an interception, fumble and roughing-the-kicker penalty. The Huskies were able to run the ball effectively with the help of their offensive line and Catalano’s toughness. He had to leave the game for one play after taking a shot near his face by Mater Dei linebacker Nasir Wyatt. He ran six times for 52 yards in the first half and had a 76-yard touchdown pass to Cory Butler.
Mater Dei quarterback Dash Beierly, a transfer from Chaparral, missed twice on deep balls to open receivers in the first half. He also had touchdown passes of seven yards to Mark Bowman and four yards to Chris Henry Jr. and showed that he has some running ability out of the pocket.
Topui, a 6-foot-3, 315-pound junior, was causing havoc on Mater Dei’s defensive line with two sacks. Centennial suffered two blocked punts. And what can you say about a Mater Dei linebacker trio that features Wyatt, an Oregon commit; Abduall Sanders, an Alabama commit, and Scott.
“I was doing what I do,” Scott said. “I’m the young guy. I’m the next guy up.”
Lara is well prepared to take on the scrutiny and expectations of being head coach at Mater Dei. He had a similar experience during his days at Long Beach Poly, where his teams won five Division 1 titles during 13 seasons. Even then, some fans grumbled that he didn’t win a title every season. He’d go on to coach at Warren before trying private school coaching at St. Anthony. Mater Dei president Michael Brennan hired him to bring organizational and leadership skills to the players after dismissing former coach Frank McManus.
A lot of players from both teams know one another from Inland Empire youth football days and some from Mater Dei still live near Corona.
“They’re all my brothers,” Scott said. “I live in the IE.”
Don’t be surprised if Mater Dei and Centennial have a rematch in the Division 1 playoffs.
