COSTA MESA – Mater Dei might not be that great, after all.
The Monarchs had to punt, and three times, too, Friday against Edison.
Invincible? Ha!
OK, Mater Dei had a 42-0 lead by the time Monarchs punter Ryan Stonehouse finally had something to do. He has punted only eight times in five games. Rams punter Johnny Hekker punted six times in the Rams’ game against Seattle on Sunday.
Stonehouse is as busy as a surfboard shop in Nebraska.
Mater Dei sophomore quarterback JT Daniels was superb, as usual. He was 29 for 37 for 416 yards and five touchdowns. Daniels exited the game early in the third quarter.
The Monarchs completed the nonleague part of their schedule with a 5-0 record. They have outscored their opposition by a cumulative score of 278-21. Mater Dei is ranked No. 1 in Orange County and in CIF-Southern Section Division 1, and is No. 3 in the California top 25 compiled by CalHiSports.com.
Coaches always find room for improvement. Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson and staff know where to look as the Monarchs head into their bye week and get ready for their Trinity League opener against O.C. No. 3 Santa Margarita on Oct. 7 at Santa Ana Stadium.
“We’ve been building a list of things we think we need to be better at,” Rollinson said. “So we’ll start addressing those things, especially in the special teams area.”
There is nothing wrong with their punter, except for maybe some rust and cobwebs. Stonehouse has a great leg. He got off a net punt of 52 yards Friday.
Edison went 4-1 in nonleague. The Chargers, No. 7 in O.C. and No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 3, also take their bye week next week before playing Newport Harbor in a Sunset League opener Oct. 6 at Huntington Beach High.
Friday’s game was the final matchup of two of the better coaches in O.C. football history, Rollinson and Edison’s Dave White.
White announced late last year that he is retiring as Chargers coach when this season is over. His son Garrett, a three-sport star at Edison last school year, is in the football program at Yale. White wants to see Garrett play and do the sort of traveling enjoyed by people not as busy as the coach of one of Orange County’s more-prominent high school football programs.
When Garrett’s college football career is done, maybe White would resume coaching. Rollinson knows where he wants White to resume coaching.
“I told Dave, ‘OK, go get your Kumbaya,’” Rollinson said. “And I told him, ‘If that taste for coaching comes back, Mater Dei is waiting for you.’ We could have some fun.”
If White does return to coaching and that return is at Mater Dei, maybe he would coach Monarchs punters. That’s a good job for somebody easing out of retirement.
Elsewhere in O.C. football:
• Mission Viejo coach Bob Johnson continues to be tough on his alma mater. The Diablos (5-0) beat Johnson’s old school, Redondo Union, 49-12. Mission Viejo beat Redondo last year, 35-16.
• Orange Lutheran’s 49-33 win over Mullen (Colo.) is more significant than some might think. Mullen is No. 1 in MaxPreps’ Colorado rankings. The Lancers finished nonleague play at 3-2.
• University is 4-0. The Trojans beat Estancia, 37-7, for their third lopsided win in a row. Their four wins are against teams that came into the week 3-12, but one of those wins was against Laguna Hills and it was a close one, 7-6 – proof that University can win a close game, too.
• Dana Hills (1-4) got its first win since 2014. The Dolphins cruised to a 46-13 win over Los Amigos to end a
• JSerra strengthened its profile Thursday with a 45-35 win over Los Alamitos. It, like all Trinity League teams, has next week off. JSerra plays O.C. No. 5 Orange Lutheran in the league opener for both Oct. 7 at Orange Coast College.
• Kennedy’s defense did the job in a 12-7 win over Sunny Hills. Sunny Hills was 3-0 and averaging 44 points a game. The Fighting Irish and Tustin (4-1), which got another huge game from running back Kenneth Carr in a 34-17 win over Beckman, will probably be 2-0 in the Empire League when they meet Oct. 20 at Tustin.
• Santa Ana and Segerstrom won and will stay on top of their divisional rankings. Santa Ana (4-0), No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 13, rallied for a 25-20 win Friday over Santa Ana Valley. Segerstrom (5-0) beat Northwood, 26-6, Thursday.
• Katella is another team that went 5-0 in nonleague. The Knights defeated Ocean View, 35-24, Thursday. They are probably giving up more points than Coach Fred DiPalma likes, but they probably can outscore any other teams in the Orange League for which Katella is the clear favorite.
• Capistrano Valley won a close game. The Cougars (4-1) beat Trabuco Hills (2-3), 17-10. Their average margin of victory in their previous three wins was 44 points.
• El Toro was the best 0-4 team in the county going into this week. The Chargers finally got that first win with a 49-12 home win over Hilltop of Chula Vista. They might not be a successful next week, when they play at home against Mission Viejo and Diablos coach Johnson who used to be El Toro’s coach … and we’ve seen how Mission Viejo does against schools from Johnson’s past.
Contact the writer: sfryer@scng.com