Mater Dei finds its legs in victory

SANTA ANA - The Mater Dei running game took a close game and turned it into an easy victory Friday.

The Monarchs scored on their first four possessions in the second half and went on to defeat Long Beach Jordan, 35-15, in a CIF-SS playoff game at Santa Ana Stadium. (Full game stats.)

The Monarchs rushed for 216 yards in the second half, with the trio of Jaron Hytche, Jordan Allen and Dylan Price taking turns ripping off big chunks of yardage against the Panthers (7-4).

"We didn’t do anything different in the second half, we just knew that we were the better-conditioned team and it finally started to show in the second half," said Hytche, who finished with 151 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Holding onto a 7-0 lead, the Monarchs (8-3) needed five plays to go 95 yards on the opening drive of the second half to extend the lead to 14-0. Allen had 21 yard run on the drive but it was the next play that was a thing of beauty.

Monarchs quarterback Matt Barkley dropped back and set up a perfect screen pass to Allen who did the rest, racing 64 yards for the score.

"I saw nothing but green on that play, we had been working on that play all week and they brought everyone on that play and it just worked out beautifully," Allen said.

The pass play was a big one for Barkley as it allowed him to pass Todd Marinovich to become the all-time passing yardage leader in Orange County history. Barkley completed 6 passes for 142 yards

The other Monarchs score came from Price, who scored on a 7-yard run. Price added 82 yards rushing on just five carries.

• Click here for full game stats and links to season totals and team rosters.

Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com