San Clemente gets 'amazing' victory over Mater Dei

SANTA ANA - Mike Elespuru scored on a 25-yard touchdown run on the first play of overtime, and fifth-ranked San Clemente's defense held strong to defeat No. 7 Mater Dei, 28-21, in a nonleague showdown on Friday night at Santa Ana Stadium.

It was just the second time the Tritons have defeated the Monarchs in nine meetings and their first since 1995.

San Clemente goes to 4-0, while Mater Dei dropped to 0-3.

"Amazing, man. It's all about heart,"said Elespuru, who finished with 161 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.

"We went down and made a mistake, but we came back all the way through. It's all about heart."

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San Clemente trailed, 14-7, after David Thompson scored on a 2-yard run to cap a 9-play, 30-yard scoring drive in the third quarter.

Brian Soper set the score up with a 35-yard punt return.

Utah-bound Travis Wilson connected with Christian Bailey on a 15-yard touchdown pass, and Elespuru broke a 54-yard TD run to give San Clemente a 21-14 advantage with 6:24 remaining.

Mater Dei responded by driving to the San Clemente 5-yard line before the Tritons stopped the Monarchs on fourth down with just under 2 minutes remaining.

Mater Dei used all of its timeouts and a strong defensive stand to get the ball back with 50.3 seconds remaining.

Junior quarterback Ryan McMahon completed 4 of 6 passes, moving the Monarchs in for the tying score. McMahon connected with Joshua Cook for a 17-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 8.1 seconds left to tie it, 21-21.

San Clemente won the coin toss and chose to start on offense first in overtime. The Monarchs had all the momentum after driving down for the tying score in the final seconds of regulation, but Elespuru silenced the crowd with his 25-yard scoring run on the first play from scrimmage in extra time.

"I looked left, I looked right, it was wide open and I went to the house," Elespuru said.

San Clemente's defense, which recorded three sacks, an interception and held Mater Dei to 31 rushing yards, came through by defending McMahon's final two passes into the end zone to seal the victory.

San Clemente got off to a great start, taking the opening kickoff nine plays and 80 yards for a touchdown.

The Tritons hammered away with Elespuru on the ground, then Wilson hit his tight end Chris French for a 44-yard pass play to the Monarchs 9. Two plays later, Elespuru scored the first of his three touchdowns on an 8-yard run.

Mater Dei got help from the Tritons to tie it, 7-7, just before the first half ended. A bad snap by went for a 35-yard loss to San Clemente's 22. Five plays later, Freddie Mora scored on a 1-yard run with 8.2 seconds left in the half.

The Tritons play host to Newport Harbor next Friday at 7 p.m. Mater Dei, which has to Carson, Centennial of Corona and San Clemente by a combined 19 points, plays host to Edison next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Santa Ana Stadium.