SANTA ANA – Mater Dei began the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs without a hitch, defeating Tesoro, 69-0, Friday night at Santa Ana Stadium.
Mater Dei (11-0) will play at Vista Murrieta (9-2) in a second-round game Friday. Vista Murrieta defeated Bishop Amat, 38-24, Friday.
Sophomore quarterback JT Daniels put on his usual spectacle, completing 14 of 17 passes for 304 yards and five touchdowns without an interception. He did not play after the Monarchs took a 55-0 halftime lead.
Mater Dei dominated from its first offensive play, when Daniels connected with senior wide receiver Osiris St. Brown for a 65-yard score. The Stanford commit finished with two catches, two touchdowns and 75 yards.
On the following drive, senior Chase Ault blocked a Tesoro punt. It was picked up by sophomore Bru McCoy, who ran it 44 yards for a score.
Tesoro (5-6) had a rough first half offensively, netting 89 total yards. Of the Titans’ 27 first-half plays, eight were for no gain and six went for egative yardage. Junior quarterback Aaron Angelos went into the half with a minus-5 passing yards. He finished 8 of 14 passing for 27 yards with one interception.
The Titans’ two biggest plays came on wide receiver passes, a 33-yarder and a 23-yarder.
Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson let many of the 18 freshmen called up to varsity this week get some playing time in the second half. Freshman Chris Street carried the ball twice and scored both times, on runs of 62 and 46 yards.
Rollinson said the freshman “spiced up practice pretty good. … That kind of preparation, for this game and future games, is very important.”
Rollinson added that he respected Tesoro head coach Matt Poston and the way his team played.
“That’s a tough situation walking into this,” he said. “…They fought till the end.”
