MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — For all the controversy surrounding Mater Dei’s football program off the field, there was little debate between the sidelines.
With stories of violent hazing within the program and questions about the culture within the school and, more broadly, the Diocese of Orange, the Monarchs left no doubt about their talent level, obliterating Serra 44-7 in the 2021 CIF Open Division Championship Game.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys that care about each other and do it for one another,” Notre Dame commit CJ Williams said. “All the other stuff gets zoned out. We don’t listen to the outside noise.”
Perhaps the sequence that best described the night’s proceedings came in the final moments of the first half. Facing fourth-and-1 at the Monarch 45, trailing 24-0, the Padres sent Petelo Gi over the middle, and he looked to be on his way to a touchdown until Cal commit Cam Sidney somehow chased him down at the 3. Sidney then tackled sophomore Joseph Latu on a screen a foot shy of the goal line, and on the final play of the half, Serra’s attempt at a quarterback sneak was stopped well short.
Even if Serra (11-2) had gotten into the end zone to close the first half, it would have likely only been a moral victory. Mater Dei (12-0) led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter, looking every bit like the top-ranked team in the nation. The Monarchs scored on their third offensive play as Elijah Brown hit Cooper Barkate for a 78-yard touchdown, then doubled their lead less than two minutes later as Malaki Te’o (Manti Te’o’s cousin) returned an interception 21 yards for a pick six.
Sophomore Tanner Williams forced a fumble that Joshua Hunter recovered at the 3 for a second turnover, and Raleek Brown’s 1-yard touchdown run made it three scores in less than four minutes.
The Monarchs would have had a second defensive touchdown in the second quarter had a block in the back not been called during Joshua Hunter’s interception return. They settled for a 32-yard Chase Meyer field goal, then got the stop to close the half. Serra’s Seamus Gilmartin’s strip and fumble recovery on the opening play of the third quarter set the Padres up with an immediate chance to regain those points they missed out on at the end of the first half, but they turned it back over on downs.
Raleek Brown then scored his second touchdown on a 3-yard run, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved the kickoff back to the 25 and a personal foul penalty on the kickoff return set the Padres up past midfield. Dominique Lampkin, who ran 18 times for 66 yards, scored Serra’s lone touchdown on an 18-yard run after Gi converted a third-and-5.
Raleek Brown, who spent the first two years of his high school career at Edison High in Stockton, added a 15-yard score before the end of the quarter. He ran for 61 yards on 11 carries, and while his high school career came to a close on Saturday night, he won’t be leaving Southern California. After Lincoln Riley took the USC job, Brown followed, flipping his commitment from Oklahoma.
Elijah Brown - no relation to Raleek - completed 18 of 25 passes for 243 yards and a pair of scores. He started the night with the touchdown to Barkate and finished matters off with a 5-yard touchdown to Quincy Craig.
The postgame scenes were unusual for a Mater Dei team that’s used to winning titles. Winning the state championship was hardly in question after the Monarchs defeated Servite to win the Southern Section Open Division, but there were tearful coaches on the sideline, well aware that the allegations surrounding the program could lead to sweeping changes in leadership.
Head coach Bruce Rollinson was carried to the podium for the trophy presentation by his players and adorned with leis, but was unavailable for comments. He took photos with his family on the field before leading the team through the “Pride Drill,” a pregame and postgame tradition at the program.
Aside from a few quick photos, the players hardly hung around the field, either. Williams and Elijah Brown were available for quick comments, but only with a school representative filtering questions. Not only were players instructed not to speak to media about the legal allegations surrounding the program, many were never available to discuss their on-field excellence.
It was a completely different scene on Serra’s side, where head coach Patrick Walsh spoke at length with reporters. His only hurry to get off the field was to address his players in the locker room, and despite the lopsided defeat, he was hailed with cheers from the fans who made the trip from San Mateo.
“Our kids fought their asses off,” he said. “Our spirits aren’t broken. High school football’s more than just hoisting trophies. At Serra High School, we build men, and we got a step closer to becoming men tonight. We could have tapped out so many times in this game, and we didn’t.”
Despite the defeat, Serra certainly had a few strong individual performances. Gi ran 25 times for 116 yards and Andrew Stewart, a three-year starter in his final game with the Padres, made a lunging one-handed pass breakup in the end zone.
Leviticus Su’a made 13 tackles (7 solo) and forced a fumble for the Monarchs, leading a star-studded defense. Only a junior, Su’a is expected to headline the defense next year, but the Mater Dei program could have a completely different look when the 2022 season rolls around.
