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Mater Dei football responds to challenge from Santa Margarita with strong second half

October 5, 2024

MISSION VIEJO — The Trinity League delivered on its reputation Friday night. You might be forgiven if you thought America’s toughest high school football league would have included a rout. If you looked at the rankings and the records, and the adversity faced by one of the teams, a blowout looked imminently possible.

But when push comes to shove, there aren’t going to be many Friday nights that are easy.

Sure, top-ranked Mater Dei went home with a 40-18 victory over Santa Margarita. But not without getting knocked around a bit.

Not without clinging to a 16-10 halftime lead. Not without getting shut down at the goal line and having to kick a field goal. Not without reinserting Oregon-bound running back Jordon Davison to score a TD with 28 seconds remaining to buff up the score.

“We knew Santa Margarita was going to come out pretty strong,” said Mater Dei coach Raul Lara. “They have nothing to lose. We’re going to take everyone’s best shot, and we have to match that intensity.

“Give a lot of credit to the coaches over there, rallying their guys and making them play hard.”

That much was evident. Arguably the Eagles’ best player, receiver Trent Mosely, was out with an injury. Their head coach, Anthony Rouzier, was out after being placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation into incidents within the football program.

And the Eagles did play hard. Very little of what Mater Dei (5-0, 1-0) gained looked like it came easy or without paying a physical price. The Eagles (3-3, 0-1) were tough, they flew to the ball, and they never gave up.

And they shocked the Monarchs right out of the box. Their first play from scrimmage was a 52-yard bomb from John Gazzaniga to Sean Embree, and the next play Gazzaniga scored from 2 yards.

There were times when Gazzaniga looked like he was summoning his inner Johnny Stanton as he took on the Mater Dei defense, dishing out as much as he took. He finished with nine carries for 41 yards, and completed 13 of 20 passes for 114.

And the Eagles defense was physical and pressured the quarterback.

Eventually, talent won out. Mater Dei’s offensive line was stout, the defense was stiff, and they took advantage of a golden opportunity presented them.

Mater Dei took control – and pulled away – in the second half after a bad snap on a punt gave it possession at the Eagles 17; Monarchs quarterback Dash Beierly immediately connected with Gavin Honore on a beautifully thrown pass and catch at the back of the end zone to make it 26-10 with 4:48 left in the third quarter

Beierly completed 14 of 21 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. His second TD was a highlight-worthy 2-yarder to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, which made it 33-10 with 11:52 left in the game.

Dixon-Wyatt finished with five catches for 52 yards.

Before wearing out the Eagles in the second half, Mater Dei had relied on the big-play ability of Davison. When yards were hard to come, Davison’s elusiveness paid dividends twice. He peeled off a 64-yard scoring run with 3:53 left in the first quarter to match Margarita’s first score, and a 26-yard run around the right side for a 16-7 lead with 57 seconds left in the first quarter.

Though Beierly threw for two TD passes, it was Davison who was the offensive star.

“I broke a lot of tackles,” he said. “I thought this was my best game of the season.”

He rushed 13 times for 155 yards and three scores, including the one with 28 seconds remaining after the second-unit took the ball down to the goal line. He admitted he was surprised he went back into the game to seal the deal.

Steven Fifita, the Santa Margarita defensive coordinator who was thrust into the role of interim head coach in Rouzier’s absence, shouldered much of the blame – probably unnecessarily so.

“I just didn’t have answers for some of the things they did in the second half,” he said. “Mater Dei’s a good team. They executed and did a really good job. We knew it would be an uphill battle, but I still thought we had a chance to win. We never gave up, we never turned on each other.

“The situation wasn’t ideal from a coaching perspective, but we tell the kids the next guy has to be ready. I thought our staff did a great job adjusting on the run.”

And then Fifita let out a long sigh that reflected the entire week. After giving a good account of itself, it’s finally over.

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Orange County Register

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Mater Dei football responds to challenge from Santa Margarita with strong second half

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