Mater Dei cruised to top-program status in Southern California, and 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.
In Mater Dei’s way on Friday night in a Southern Section Division 1 semifinal was Corona Centennial, a team that played the Monarchs close in the season opener. Quarterback Dash Beierly could not keep a rhythm early, completing only four of 12 passes with one interception.
Was this the end of the Monarchs’ run? Could Centennial take advantage, stun the crowd and upset its highly favored foes?
“We needed to execute,” Lara said. “We needed to do our job. If we execute, then nobody can stop us.”
Execute they did. On Centennial’s home turf — a rowdy, sold-out road environment — the Monarchs’ defensive quality shined. 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. The Monarchs and Braves will play Friday at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. Mater Dei won the regular-season matchup by 45 points.
Wyatt’s first-half strip-sack set up Mater Dei at the three-yard line, where backup quarterback Furian Inferrera — filling in for an injured Beierly, who did not return after a second-quarter collision — tossed a three-yard touchdown pass to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt to put the Monarchs ahead 22-7.
“I just trust him,” Inferrera said of Dixon-Wyatt. “I had to trust my guys.”
Earlier 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. In the third quarter, Longstreet threw his second interception, 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 had tallied 81 yards on offense 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.
With Bosco on the horizon, Lara had a message for his team.
“Let’s get everybody to practice tomorrow,” the first-year coach said, huddled with his players around him. “It’s the last Saturday — the last Saturday.”
No breaks ahead for Mater Dei with its 13th Southern Section title on the line next week.