Mater Dei Flattens L.A. Jordan in Tuneup for Servite

SANTA ANA —  Mater Dei High School’s football game Thursday night was more like a workout. And when the Monarchs’ 31-0 victory over Los Angeles Jordan was over, Coach Bruce Rollinson was relieved.

“We felt that the kids did what we asked of them, play with intensity,” Rollinson said. “Our kids were flat, no doubt about it. But fortunately, we had no injuries.”

The last tidbit was by far the most important as far as Rollinson was concerned. This was, after all, a nonleague game, a brief respite in the middle of the Monarchs’ Angelus League season.

With an important league game against Servite coming up next week, the last thing Rollinson wanted was to lose anybody to an injury. Especially since the Monarchs have lost their past three games against the Friars.

Oh sure, a victory was important, too, but that was practically guaranteed by the end of the first quarter. The crowd of 1,000 at Santa Ana Stadium saw a few flashes of the Monarchs’ offense before it was put away for the evening.

Mater Dei (5-4) scored on its first four possessions and led, 24-0, at halftime. The first team then took the rest of the evening off.

“We were able to get a look at some of our younger players, which is always good,” Rollinson said. “We also got to work on a few things. Our deep passing has been a little suspect, so we threw a few of those, and we brushed up on the option.”

O’Neil completed seven of 13 passes for 86 yards. He threw touchdown passes of 22 yards to Tino Chavez and 18 yards to John Williams.

Running back Kealii Clifford gained 101 yards in 16 carries. He and O’Neil worked the option to perfection, including a five-yard play for the first touchdown.