DANA POINT Veteran Mater Dei football coach Bruce Rollinson missed his first school graduation in nearly 40 years to attend the Air Strike passing tournament Saturday at Dana Hills.
Thanks to the Monarchs’ emerging passing attack, he still witnessed plenty of advancement.
Behind quarterback Matt McDonald and wide receivers AJ Collins and C.J. Parks, pictured below, the Monarchs stormed to the title with a 28-14 victory against upset-minded Edison.
McDonald (6-2, 194) showed 
a strong and accurate arm in leading the Monarchs to their second passing tournament title of the spring. The junior-to-be is contending for the starting job. Mater Dei also won the San Juan Hills-hosted Gunslinger tournament.
Collins, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound senior-to-be, is coming off a season-ending ankle injury but played aggressively to haul in high passes and balls thrown to the corner of the end zone.
Parks, a 5-foot-8, 154-pound sophomore-to-be, made several dazzling catches in traffic to shine as the 
Monarchs’ breakout performer.
Rollinson was pleased with the progress of all three players but cautioned that the season is a long way away.
“It’s like I told the kids, the only thing people are going to remember about May 30 is graduation,” he said. “They’re not going to remember that we won the Air Strike tournament. But with that being said, we executed at the right times. We made some big throws, some big catches.
“But you know Mater Dei. I thought we played really, really good defense all day. We had goal-line stands in a lot of games that gave us opportunities on offense.”
In the final, Mater Dei linebacker Curtis Robinson helped the Monarchs cover Edison receiver Garrett White (6-2, 205) near the goal-line. White and quarterback Grant Lowary helped power Edison into the finals.
Here’s what Rollinson said about the Monarchs’ big offensive trio Saturday:
Rollinson on McDonald, “It’s a work in progress when you have a young kid but he stepped up, he had some good throws. It’s the same thing: whether it was Billy Blanton or Matt Leinart, we’re a long way away from August.”
Rollinson on Collins, “He’s still not 100 percent but he’s starting to really get some confidence back in the leg. I thought in the last two games, he played better than he did all morning. He rose up when he was supposed to rise up and that’s key. He’s worked very hard in rehabilitation and the fruits of his hard will start to pay off.”
Rollinson on Parks, who made a spectacular diving catch for about a 15-yard TD in the final, “He’s a quietly confident kid and he’s just got to keep making plays. He’s got some good hands. He’s got real good body control. It’s incredible to me that a freshmen has that kind of body control.”
Mater Dei defeated Trinity League rival and defending Air Strike champion JSerra, 33-13, in the semifinals and Norco in the quarterfinals.
In the other semifinal, Edison returned two interceptions against Santa Margarita quarterback KJ Costello for touchdowns en route to a 38-6 victory. Senior-to-be corner Gasper Atenico jumped a route for the first interception and junior-to-be safety Bowen Blake grabbed a deflection for the second.
“We had a good day that’s for sure,” Edison coach Dave White. “To get to the finals of a tough tournament … that’s a really good deal.”
White said in addition to his son, Garrett, and Lowary, he was impressed with wide receiver David Atencio, wide receiver/safety E.J. Ginnis and Gasper Atencio. The Chargers were missing three of top-six receivers, including Jacob Price.
