OCVarsity Kickoff ’16: Mater Dei preview

Mater Dei starts the season ranked No. 1 in the county in part because of a roster loaded with talent. The Monarchs have two returning All-County players - Osiris St. Brown, left, and Jalen Cole (6) - and an emerging standout at quarterback, JT Daniels.
Sitting atop the Register's season-opening top 25 is Mater Dei. The Monarchs have a roster loaded with talent, a gropu that includes, from left, receiver Osiris St. Brown, cornerback Jalen Cole and quarterback JT Daniels.
Mater Dei's talented roster includes, from left, wide receiver Osiris St. Brown, cornerback Jalen Cole and quarterback JT Daniels. They are joined in the photo by Mater Dei song leaders (from left) Christina Lopez, Marissa Aldridge, Makenzie Frank, Madeline Frank and Kennedy Roberts.
Osiris St. Brown, Jalen Cole and JT Daniels pose for a photo on the Mater Dei campus with two of the school's song leaders, Makenzie Frank and Kennedy Roberts.
Mater Dei quarterback JT Daniels.
Mater Dei wide receiver Osiris St. Brown was first-team All-County last season.
Mater Dei cornerback Jalen Cole was first-team All-County last season.

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By Steve Fryer | sfryer@scng.com | Orange County Register

August 23, 2016 at 1:12 a.m.

OCVarsity’s team preview for 2016:

MATER DEI MONARCHS

Coach: Bruce Rollinson

Last season: 10-3 overall, 3-2 league

Scouting report: You know a league is good when a team in the California top 10 is not favored to win its league championship. That’s Mater Dei’s story going into this season. The Monarchs might be a step behind ultra-talented St. John Bosco, but they are good enough to win the league titles of 90-whatever percent of the leagues in the state. And they just might be good enough to beat Bosco. Mater Dei has standout players everywhere – offense, defense and special teams. Sophomore quarterback JT Daniels made a wonderful freshman debut last season in which he threw for 3,042 yards and 33 touchdowns. The receiving corps is a deep and skilled group, which includes brothers Osiris and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Mater Dei’s defensive backfield features two players who have make college commitments, Xavier Bell to Arizona, Quentin Lake to UCLA, and another, Jalen Cole, who was All-Trinity League first team in 2015. The linebacking crew, featuring ’15 all-league second-team selection Fa’ave Fa’ave, is solid, and Chase McGrath–Ryan Stonehouse might be the best kicker-punter combination in Orange County. Coach Bruce Rollinson’s only concern, albeit it’s a small one, is the offensive line. “We’re counting on a lot of young kids there,” Rollinson said. “We feel that we have a depth issue at offensive line in our backups area, but those kids are getting better.” The Monarchs, who lost to Centennial of Corona by six points in the CIF-SS Pac-5 Division semifinals last season, are coming off of a fine summer in which they won the Battle at the Beach 7-on-7 passing tournament that drew many of the Southern California’s top teams.

Bottom line: If Daniels can avoid a sophomore slump – and all indications are that he will continue to progress rapidly – and the offensive line can handle all of the great defensive lines Mater Dei will face, the Monarchs will be great.

Players to watch: Osiris St. Brown, WR, Sr.; JT Daniels, QB, So.; Austin Faoliu, DL, Sr.; Jalen Cole, DB, Sr.

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