Servite players cherish victory over Mater Dei

SANTA ANA - When Servite senior quarterback Cody Fajardo was asked if the date Nov. 10, 1988, meant anything to him, Fajardo gave a slight smile and shook his head.

Though he wasn’t born, he knew that date represented the last time Servite celebrated a victory over Mater Dei.

Along with his teammates, coaches, and the dedicated Servite faithful, Oct. 23, 2009, will now carry with it the meaning of redemption and success for one of the county’s most storied programs, as No. 3 Servite finally ended two decades worth of frustration to their its rival with a hard fought 30-20 victory over No. 8 Mater Dei on Friday night at Santa Ana Stadium.

“It feels great and I will be glad to be remembered as the quarterback that beat Mater Dei,” said Fajardo. “Everyone executed and played as one unit.”

The numbers entering the streak were well known. Entering the contest, the Friars were 0-19-1 in their past 20 encounters with Mater Dei and had been outscored by an average of 21 points per game.

However, the Friars had the look of a team ready to put that dubious mark to bed from the outset. Led by their passionate coach Troy Thomas, the Friars stormed the field and rode their emotional entrance in front of their raucious fans to a 20-0 second quarter lead.

Thomas acknowledged that passion of the Servite fans had an effect on his team.

“This is why you play in this game and it was awesome to finally get one,” said Thomas. “To me, this was the best Mater Dei preparation week we had and everyone handled it really well.”

Though Mater Dei challenged the Friars throughout the second half , Servite remained composed and answered each challenge with focused intensity.

Senior receiver Chris Nicholls, who had 63 yards receiving, said that the team entered the game ready to do the things they needed in order to obtain success.

“Every year, people made the game bigger and bigger and we got caught up in that,” he said, “This year, we focused on ourselves and knew that if we play hard, we could come out with a victory.”

Senior lineman Kirifi Taula who played a big in role in keeping pressure on Monarchs quarterback Cody Wittek all night, acknowledged that while the win was big, the season isn’t over yet.

“Winning and ending the streak was great, but tomorrow we come out, watch film,” said Taula. “We’re taking this as just another game.”