New Mater Dei quarterback emerges

DANA POINT - Mater Dei’s quarterback factory has produced another passer to watch.

Junior-to-be Ryan McMahon was under center for the Monarchs at the Air Strike passing tournament Saturday and guided them to the championship game.

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OCVarsity Hot Shot: Mater Dei takes second at Air Strke

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Long Beach Poly was the only team to stop McMahon and Mater Dei. The Jackrabbits intercepted McMahon twice, including one on the final play to secure a 21-14 victory at Dana Hills.

McMahon threw touchdowns to juniors-to-be Jameson Field and Thomas Duarte.

In the semifinals, he tossed five touchdowns in a 31-19 victory against Los Alamitos.

McMahon is replacing Max Wittek, now at USC.

“I commend him because this is his first competition and I thought he represented the tradition of the quarterbacks very well,” Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said of McMahon.

“We have a lot that he can learn from, and that’s what we need is competition now and opportunities for him to grow and develop. But it was a good opening performance by him.”

McMahon connected with multiple receivers. In the semifinals, he threw touchdowns to four different players, including two to the impressive Duarte (6-3, 225).

Mater Dei sophomore-to-be Jonathan Lockett and junior-to-be Mychal Traylor intercepted passes.

“People say we’re not that good this year,” Rollinson said. “I think the kids proved that we’re not going to go away very easy and I think this gave us a lot of confidence.”

In the other semifinal, Long Beach Poly edged Edison, 21-19.