NORWALK, Calif. -- Mater Dei head coach Bruce Rollinson stood on the field after his team’s 26-21 come-from-behind win over St. John Bosco Friday night and recited the No. 1 key that he told his players in the locker room before the game: “You’re not going to get any press. You’re not going to get your picture in the paper. But the men in this room will know who won the football game.”
They sure do, emerging victorious in a game at Cerritos College that many billed to be the matchup of the year in high school football. Mater Dei entered ranked 7-0 and third in the nation; St. John Bosco came in 10th but having won the last six games over the Monarchs and 23 games overall in Trinity League play.
“They had 23 straight league wins, and we put an end to that streak,” Rollinson beamed. “That’s a good football team. We’ll enjoy it.”
The streak ended on Friday in dramatic fashion, with the Monarchs coming back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Down 21-12 with nine minutes to play, Mater Dei drew within two on a 15-yard touchdown reception by Osiris St. Brown, who caught a pass from J.T. Daniels and dove into the end zone.
Then, an interception on the Braves’ next drive by Jalen Cole near midfield gave the Monarchs the ball right back. Daniels drove Mater Dei down the field quickly and Shakobe Harper punched in a one-yard touchdown run to give his team the lead at 26-21 with five minutes to play.
The defense — which often bent but did not break and kept Mater Dei in the game — sealed it on St. John Bosco’s final drive, as safety Xavier Bell knocked away a pass on fourth down, allowing the Monarchs to take over and run out the clock.
“We just got our minds right and got it done,” offensive tackle Tommy Brown said. ”We knew that J.T. would call the right play and trust ourselves.”
It was not Daniels’ best performance, but the sophomore phenom gutted it out. His 129-yard performance was well below his season average — he did complete 19 of 29 passes — with St. John Bosco’s defense proving up to the task.
In the first half, Daniels struggled to gain much of a rhythm as St. John Bosco's defensive front and secondary stood tall. Passes were knocked down or hurried and Mater Dei didn't get much going offensively in the second quarter.
It’s no surprise, then, that he credited his teammates for stepping up.
"Our defensive and offensive line and running backs and special teams carried us tonight,” Daniels said.
Special teams were indeed special for Mater Dei. Punter Ryan Stonehouse hammered every one of his kicks deep — he had three punts of over 50 yards in the first half alone, and in the second half, pinned St. John Bosco at its own 1-yard line — reversing field position and helping out his defense.
Placekicker Chase McGrath nailed two field goals early on after drives. They may have seemed inconspicuous at the time, but as it turned out, Mater Dei needed those points.
“If we don’t make those field goals, we don’t win that game,” wide receiver Amon-ra St. Brown said.
St. Brown himself played a key role on special teams, returning a punt 75 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter that woke up the slumbering Mater Dei offense.
Though St. John Bosco responded with an 80-yard touchdown drive, the offense had found its groove, establishing the run with Daniels hampered by the Braves’ passing defense.
“At halftime, we realized we needed to run the ball more,” Brown said. “They locked up our wide receivers so we had to go to our running game. We did.”
Added Rollinger: “What I love is we ended up running the football. We mixed it up.”
Harper finished with 73 yards on the night.
For two teams that each average over 40 points a game, this was a low-scoring, grind-it-out affair that didn’t start out according to plan for Mater Dei.
“The kids, they believed in themselves and they never got their heads down,” Rollinger said. “I thought in the first half…how much more adversity?”
The Monarchs committed nine penalties in the first half for nearly 100 yards. A holding call cost them a touchdown on their opening drive when Daniels' completion to a wide open Amon-ra St. Brown was nullified by a holding call.
Meanwhile, St. John Bosco featured a heavy dose of runs, with dual-threat quarterback Re-al Mitchell and running back Terrance Beasley slicing all over the field. Mitchell capped off a lengthy first drive with a 1-yard score on third-and-goal to give St. John Bosco a 7-3 lead.
Mitchell, known more for his speed than his arm, also threw for 93 yards in the first half. In the second quarter, on a third-and-17 play near midfield, Mitchell fired a dart over the middle to Berkeley Holman for a 36-yard pickup. The key third down conversion set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Demetrius Flowers to put the Braves ahead 14-6.
The game could’ve gotten out of hand right there, given Mitchell’s potent speed and playmaking ability. But the defense limited the Braves, special teams chipped in and in the end, the offense finally clicked — a formula for a program-defining win against another nationally-acclaimed team.
Rollinger said on his team: “They’re loose, they’re relaxed, and yet, when it comes time to tee it up, they can hit you.”
On Friday, they took the early punches and hit back just hard enough to get the job done.
