Tustin’s Borza Beats Mater Dei His Way

COSTA MESA —  The only sparks in Thursday night’s game between Tustin and Mater Dei were provided by Tustin quarterback Andy Borza.

Borza made all the big plays on offense to give Tustin a 27-3 victory in front 6,000 at Orange Coast College. Borza scored on runs of 65 and two yards and set up a third touchdown with a 38-yard pass to Robert Collier to give the Tillers their third consecutive victory.

Off the field, Mater Dei suffered another loss when running back Derek Sparks was not cleared in time to play. A frantic attempt to get approval from Southern Section commissioner Stan Thomas to use Sparks failed.

Sparks, who gained 1,944 yards at Van Nuys Montclair Prep last season, enrolled at Mater Dei on Monday. However, his transcripts lacked a signature from Montclair Prep principal Vernon Simpson.

School officials finally obtained Simpson’s signature at 7:05 p.m. Thursday--55 minutes before game time--according to Mater Dei principal Lyle Porter. He called Thomas, but the commissioner said the transcripts had arrived too late.

“The commissioner requested that we wait another day,” Porter said, “and we agreed.”

So Sparks, who was suited up and prepared to play, could only watch as the Monarchs made one mistake after another. Mater Dei (0-2) turned the ball over six times, which provided Borza with plenty of scoring opportunities.

Borza completed only three of 15 passes for 68 yards, but two completions set up touchdowns. He also gained 58 yards rushing.

“Andy really came through for us tonight,” Tiller Coach Marijon Ancich said. “We made only about 10 good plays tonight and Andy made four of them.”

The first came midway through the second quarter after Mater Dei’s Rick Ellis fumbled to give Tustin the ball at the Monarchs’ 21-yard line. On third down, Borza rolled to his right and completed a pass to Collier for a first down on the two.

On the next play, Borza improvised, taking the snap and diving forward for the touchdown.

“That’s was his own doing,” Ancich said. “He saw that the defensive was split and just followed the center. We teach our kids to look for those things.”

On Tustin’s next possession, Borza spotted Collier, who had slipped behind defensive back Jim Doone. The 38-yard completion set up a two-yard touchdown run by Visko Ancich.

Borza scored again in the third quarter on a 65-yard quarterback sneak, which was another ad lib on his part.

Other than Borza, the Tustin offense was contained by the Monarchs. Running backs Ancich and Ron Goods were stopped for the first time this season.

Goods, who came into the game as the second-leading rusher in the county, gained 39 yards in 14 carries and fumbled twice. Ancich had 40 yards in 15 carries.

However, Tustin kept Mater Dei’s offense bottled most of the evening, limiting the Monarchs to 84 yards rushing and 232 total yards. Mater Dei got inside Tustin’s 10-yard line three times, but managed to score only three points from those opportunities.