WESTLAKE VILLAGE – Twenty-one points might as well have been 100, because Westlake didn‘t have a chance in the second half – not the way the Monarchs’ defense played Friday night.
Mater Dei built a 21-0 lead at halftime, limited the Westlake offense to just 162 yards and cruised to a 28-7 road win in the first round of the CIF-SS Pac-5 playoffs at Westlake High.
Mater Dei will host Centennial of Corona in the second round next week.
The Monarchs (9-3) menaced Florida State-bound Westlake quarterback Malik Henry all night and held the standout junior to just 116 yards on 13-of-26 passing. Mater Dei senior defensive end Malik McMorris created havoc throughout, had a sack, recovered two fumbles and forced multiple Westlake holding penalties. McMorris, at fullback, also ran in a touchdown in the first half.
“The pressure on (Henry) was unbelievable,” Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said. “I don’t know how many times he had to (throw the ball away). … You could have called holding on every play against McMorris. That’s what they had to resort to.”
The foundation for the second half was built in the first, when Mater Dei held the Warriors (8-3) to just 60 yards and two first downs in the first half. The Monarchs also got a defensive TD in the second quarter on an 18-yard interception return by Gerran Brown.
“They had us on our heels, on offense, the whole night,” Westlake coach Jim Benkert said.
The rest was formulaic. Mater Dei controlled the ball on the ground, totaling 233 rushing yards, led by 175 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries by senior Adrian Contreras and continued to pressure the Warriors’ offense. The Monarchs didn’t even need to complete a pass in the second half to maintain their lead.
One big play – a 44-yard pass from Henry to Theo Howard – set up Westlake’s only score, which cut the Mater Dei lead to 21-7 with 7:21 remaining in the third quarter, but the Warriors never advanced past the Monarchs’ 37-yard line the rest of the way.
The Monarchs kept things interesting, however, with a missed field goal, a turnover on downs and a lost fumble in the late stages of the game, but their defense refused to give up ground.
“I’ll be interested to see how many times we got into our own way,” Rollinson said. “The field goal – we should have three points. We’re dropping snaps in critical times – we make those mistakes against Centennial and we’re packing. We have some issues, but for what we had to put into this thing, I’m really proud of the kids.”
It was the second win Mater Dei had over Westlake this season. In the first, the Monarchs needed to block a last-second field goal to secure a 28-27 win.
Contact the writer: jbalan@ocregister.com
