COSTA MESA – Mater Dei’s defense had Dave White’s stamp of approval well before kickoff.
“They’re phenomenal,” the longtime Edison coach said during pregame warmups. “As good as I’ve seen.”
While White’s initial compliments stemmed from hours of film study, a frightening reality sunk in rather quickly Friday night: the Monarchs’ defensive 11 may be even better than originally advertised.
Top-ranked Mater Dei put on another suffocating defensive showing against No. 10 Edison, forcing three turnovers and limiting the Chargers to 1 yard rushing during a lopsided 34-12 victory in a nonleague game at Orange Coast College.
“We played bad on offense, but I think that they had a lot to do with it,” White said after the game. “They’re whole team is really good, but their defense is great.”
With the win, Mater Dei improved to 4-0, while Edison fell to 3-2, suffering its second straight loss to a Trinity League opponent.
“Our defense played like what they’re noted for,” Monarchs coach Bruce Rollinson said. “I don’t think (Edison) really hurt us bad until we put the backups in, and I commend them for competing.”
Mater Dei’s advantage in the trenches proved to be substantial from the opening whistle. Monarchs quarterback Jack Lowary was afforded plenty of time in the pocket and that allowed his receiving corps to develop routes downfield in the vertical passing game.
Lowary finished with 237 yards passing as 10 of his 17 completions covered 10 yards or more.
“I thought Lowary was very, very solid tonight,” Rollinson added. “It looked like for 48 minutes that the offensive line was solid.”
Meanwhile, the Monarchs’ defensive front wreaked havoc. Rasheed Williams, Olive Sagapolu and Malik McMorris harassed Edison’s Matt Gane the entire night, and consistently forced the Chargers into third-and-long situations
The Chargers’ six drives in the first half generated just 23 yards on 18 plays. Edison mustered one first down in the first two quarters, while four separate drives ended in three-and-outs.
The lone drive that produced an extra set of downs ultimately resulted in a blocked punt from Mater Dei’s Garrett Estrada, which gave the Monarchs possession at the Chargers’ 19. Ronald Nickerson capped off the three-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, giving the Monarchs the initial 7-0 lead seconds into the second quarter.
Edison’s lone first-half score came two minutes later when a long snap to Monarchs punter Elias Deeb bounced off the turf. Chargers’ defensive back AJ Beynon scooped the loose ball up and returned it 5 yards for the score.
Edison was outgained 236-23 in the first half.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
