 Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson hasn't been thrilled with some of the things he has seen this season. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER LATEST FROM THE OCVARSITY.COM BLOG |
Will the real Mater Dei step forward?
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The Monarchs' final nonleague game could show where they stand.
Our preseason No. 1 football team has not played like a No. 1 team.
Tonight's the night?
Mater Dei, the Register's top-ranked team in Orange County football coming into this season, plays Edison tonight at 7 at Orange Coast College. In the county poll of 11 media members, Mater Dei is No. 3 and Edison is No. 5. Both are 3-1 with losses to excellent teams: Mater Dei was beaten by Centennial of Corona; Edison by Servite.
In two viewings of Mater Dei, the games against Carson and Centennial, the defense looked tentative, the kicking game was not to the usual Monarchs standards, the offensive line was not pass-protecting well and receivers were running routes that quarterback Matt Barkley did not expect them to run. People see Barkley's county-leading nine interceptions and ask, "What's wrong with Barkley?" to which the answer is "nothing."
Can Mater Dei play like a No. 1 team against an excellent, always-prepared team like No. 5 Edison? Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson is curious, too.
"When I look at Mater Dei," said Rollinson, trying to be an interested objective observer, "I am concentrating on the focus and concentration of the team, and sometimes that has not been there. That affects our execution, and we've made execution mistakes in all three areas — offense, defense and special teams.
"If we're still doing that against Edison, there will be problems because we're playing a well-coached and disciplined football team."
Rollinson knows the time is now to tune up the engine. After a bye next week, Mater Dei goes into the ultra-tough Trinity League. First league opponent: No. 2 Servite.
Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:
•Servite, this week, has a bye. The Friars next Friday play at Cerritos College against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, which is ranked No. 18 in California, one position below Servite. If Notre Dame still is in the state top 25 next week, Servite then will have played four teams in the state top 25 when the Friars played them.
•Edison takes a bye next week, its third of the season. The Chargers then step into Sunset League play against Newport Harbor on Oct. 17 at Orange Coast College.
•No. 9 Esperanza lost to Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach two weeks ago then rebounded nicely last week with a 51-7 thumping of Mt. Miguel of Spring Valley, at Mt. Miguel. The Aztecs had been averaging only 10 points a game, so the offense came alive, but the defense was typically strong with three sacks and two interceptions. Esperanza has a bye this week, then plays next Friday at Valencia High against Centennial of Compton.
•Mission Viejo and Tesoro both take byes next week before they play each other Oct. 17 at Tesoro.
•This is an interesting night in football, and not only because of Mater Dei-Edison. Los Alamitos at La Habra will show if there really is a large gap between a good Pac-5 team and a top Southwest Division team.
•Segerstrom football coach Mike Maceranka is the ABC7/NFL High School Coach of the Week. Maceranka will be honored on Channel 7's Sports Zone show Saturday, when Segerstrom's football program will receive a $1,000 grant from the NFL Youth Football Fund.
•Dana Hills' football team will spend much of Oct. 11 working on a Habitat for Humanity Homes for Heroes project. The project builds homes for war veterans and their families.
•San Juan Hills' football team is playing a varsity schedule for some games, a junior varsity for others. The Stallions, with no seniors at the school, are 2-0 with victories over Godinez (another school with no seniors) and Calvary Chapel of Downey. They will play in the Pacific Coast League next year. San Juan Hills' boys basketball team will play in the Diablos Inferno varsity tournament in December.
•The Orange County Wrestling Officials Association will have its first preseason meeting Oct. 5 at Corona del Mar High School. The association needs new officials, so any former wrestlers or coaches or knowledgeable fans of the sport are invited to contact Jim McCrillis at 949-493-3780 for more information.
•During the month of September, the CIF-Southern Section approved 240 transfers of student-athletes who took advantage of the opportunity to transfer before their sophomore year without having to make a change of residence, a condition that exists for transfers who are sophomores, juniors or seniors. There were 165 such transfers approved in September of 2007.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
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