“That’s a very, very good football team,” Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said of Tesoro after the Monarchs beat the Titans, 35-14, Friday.
Tesoro was playing without one of its top offensive players, running back Anthony Battista, who was out because of a strained hamstring. (Tesoro coach Matt Poston said if it was a playoff game or crucial league game, Battista would have played.)
The Mater Dei defense focused on Tesoro quarterback Devon Modster and sacked him eight times.
Mission Viejo still is the South Coast League favorite, but Tesoro sure looks like a legitimate challenger.
STAIGHTEN UP
All-time great football coach George Allen had many edicts, one of which was “celebrate after victory.”
Rollinson agrees. He was disappointed by what he saw from his players Friday.
“I’ve never seen so many chest bumps when a game was still close,” Rollinson said.
ATTENTION-GETTERS
Edison bounced back like a super ball on a hot day, scoring a 38-0 win over Buena Park, after the previous week’s loss to Tesoro. Many thought Buena Park was closing in on becoming a top-10 team – and maybe the Coyotes can get there.
San Clemente had a 51-21 win over Huntington Beach, which followed a season-opening loss to San Juan Hills.
Orange Lutheran’s win at Crespi of Encino, the No. 14 team in the state, was tremendous.
GAME CHANGERS
Westminster’s win over Garden Grove and El Modena’s win over Woodbridge changes the way we are looking at Southern Division contenders.
Garden Grove won the division last year, and handily, too. El Modena got to the semifinals last year and just might be better this year.
Katella’s 43-14 win over Western means we need to keep an eye on the Knights, too.
MUSICALLY MOTIVATED
The Santa Ana High marching band is a bona fide marching band. It does a police-escorted march from campus to Santa Ana Stadium for home games, as it did Friday. Suitably pumped up, the Saints beat Century, 43-0.
A SURE THING?
St. Margaret’s displayed how good it is with a 42-0 win over Capistrano Valley Christian.
St. Margaret’s is No. 1 in the rankings of the East Valley Division in which St. Margaret’s won the championship last year. CVC is No. 7 in the East Valley.
That 42-0 score might show how far ahead St. Margaret’s is from the rest of the division.
THIS WEEK
Two huge games Friday: Mission Viejo at La Habra (perhaps the two best public-school teams in county football); and Orange Lutheran takes on state No. 2 Centennial of Corona at Orange Coast College.
Corona del Mar, 2-0 and looking just fine, is at El Toro on Friday, and Servite takes the long trip to play state No. 1 De La Salle of Concord.
Two of the county’s better 0-2 teams meet Thursday when Trabuco Hills plays Fountain Valley at Huntington Beach. Aliso Niguel plays at Tustin, two teams coming off of tough losses (Aliso to Long Beach Millikan, Tustin to neighborhood rival Foothill), on Thursday.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
