FIRST DOWN: Santa Margarita's Trevor Brooks goes airborne to pick up a first down over Mater Dei's Andrew Abbott, as Mike Brown prepares to pounce, right. ARMANDO BROWN, OCVARSITY.COM |
Mater Dei overcomes 'off night'
Monarchs' defense stifles Santa Margarita until the offense finds its rhythm in the second half.
SANTA ANA Even when Mater Dei is struggling to find its rhythm on offense, teams still have to contend with the Monarchs' bruising defense.
Santa Margarita was able to keep the game close in the first half, but the Eagles were never able to generate any offense.
Once the Monarchs offense got going it was over.
Top-ranked Mater Dei (7-0, 2-0) handed No. 7 Santa Margarita (3-4, 0-2) a 34-7 defeat in a Trinity League game in front of 7,500 on Friday night at Santa Ana Stadium.
"We talk to the kids all the time that there will be a situation when we're a little off on offense," Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said. "Offensively, I thought we were off. We still made enough plays. We still scored enough points.
"But I was really pleased with what our defense did. We knew we had to stop 22 (Santa Margarita running back Carlo Audagnotti), and we played some great man coverage. We disguised it, and we were laying the hat on 'em."
The Monarchs limited the Eagles to 12 yards rushing and 26 yards passing in the first half. Santa Margarita got five first downs, but three came via penalties, in the first half.
Audagnotti, who came into the game as one of the county's leading rushers, might as well have been running into a wall every time he touched the ball. He carried 21 times for 44 yards.
His biggest running play of the game was a 10-yarder on his second carry.
"The defensive line got after it, the linebackers came after it and everybody just played as a team," Mater Dei linebacker Cameron Meredith said. "That's what won us the game right there."
After a tight first half that saw the Monarchs with a 13-0 lead, Mater Dei's star quarterback Matt Barkley started to find his rhythm in the second half and showed how explosive the Monarchs can be.
Mater Dei running back Robert Mojica broke a 37-yard run on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter and two plays later Barkley hit his cousin, Robbie Boyer, for a 40-yard touchdown pass.
Barkley hooked up with Boyer again on a 10-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter.
On the next play from scrimmage, Meredith scooped up an Audagnotti fumble and rumbled 55 yards for a touchdown and a 34-0 Monarchs lead.
"I just kind of saw the ball and picked it up, and we're taught to scoop and score," Meredith said.
"That's what they call it, scoop and score. That was my first touchdown in my high school career."
Barkley finished 25 of 43 for 314 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Mojica had 124 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Ryan Mumma had six catches for 110 yards.
Mater Dei, ranked No. 1 in the state by CalHiSports.com and No. 5 in the nation by StudentSports.com, plays at St. John Bosco of Bellflower next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Santa Margarita plays host to No. 2 Orange Lutheran next Friday at 7:30 p.m
Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com
