COSTA MESA – Top-ranked Mater Dei sprinted past No. 7 Edison with a blur of speedy backs and pass rushers Friday night.
The Trinity League could be passed next.
Quarterback JT Daniels passed for 416 yards and five touchdowns and the Monarchs recorded six sacks en route to a 42-0 victory in front of an estimated 5,000 at Orange Coast College.
In their final tune-up before opening the Trinity League, the Monarchs (5-0) built a 35-0 lead at halftime and recorded their third shutout.
“Bigger, faster, stronger, better in every phase of the game,” retiring Edison coach Dave White said of Mater Dei, guided by his friend, Bruce Rollinson.
“This is as good as he (Rollinson) has had in a while. Their offense is unbelievable. No one talks about their defense but their first defense has given up maybe a touchdown.”
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Edison (4-1) played without standout wideout/defensive back Shaun Colamonico (calf) and lost another two-way star, E.J. Ginnis, to an injury but Mater Dei’s speed was too much on both sides of the ball.
White said his defensive backs played further off the line so not to allow Mater Dei to attack deep. But Daniels used flip passes underneath coverage more than in previous games.
The sophomore completed 29 of 37 passes, using running backs Shakobe Harper (game-high six catches for 77 yards) and Raphael Jones (four catches for 39 yards) for flip passes.
Mater Dei replaced Daniels at quarterback with 8:29 left in the third quarter.
Daniels also connected on touchdowns to wide receivers Osiris St. Brown (27 yards), Amon-Ra St. Brown (50 yards), Nikko Remigio (11 yards) and C.J. Parks (35 yards). Daniels’ longest throw was on the connection to Stanford commit Osiris.
Amon-Ra had five catches for a game-high 107 yards.
Defensive end Nathan Logoleo helped pace Mater Dei with 11/2 sacks, a tackle for loss and pass deflection.
Edison struggled to contain outside linebacker Sal Aguilar (1½ sacks) and Chargers center Mike Saffell had his hands full with nose tackle Austin Faoliu.
Linebackers Jack Genova and Jackson McCleery (one sack) also were active for Mater Dei, which handed Edison its first shutout since 2007 against Servite.
“Those guys scared us,” Rollinson said of Edison. “Right now, we’re rolling along. We just got to keep it up.”
Mater Dei’s defense set the tone early. On the first play from scrimmage, defensive back Chase Ault recovered a fumble at the Edison 19, leading to a 3-yard touchdown run by Jones four plays later.
The Monarchs then took to the air with Daniels while scoring on their next four possessions to build that 35-0 lead. After a sack by Logoleo ended Edison’s second drive, Daniels capped a 77-yard drive with a 3-yard TD pass to Harper.
An interception in the end zone by defensive back McCade Barrett with 2:13 left in the first half gave Edison its first defensive stop. Kenny Carmichael added two sacks for the Chargers.
Contact the writer: dalbano@scng.com