Mater Dei Dominates Irvine, 28-8 : Football: Monarchs roll up 409 yards, limit Vaqueros to one first down in second half.

SANTA ANA —  Irvine Coach Terry Henigan was livid after Mater Dei, ranked second in the county, administered a 28-8 beating to the eighth-ranked Vaqueros in a nonleague football game Thursday at Santa Ana Stadium.

Was Henigan angry at his defense?

Mater Dei (4-0) rolled up 409 total yards of offense with running back Steve Bodnar rushing for 152 yards in 21 carries, scoring two touchdowns, and quarterback John Flynn completing nine of 17 passes for 185 yards.

Or was the Irvine coach upset at his offense?

Well, a stingy Mater Dei defense limited the Vaqueros to one first down in the second half and 31 yards rushing in the game.

Although Irvine (2-2) played Mater Dei tough for a half, Henigan will likely only remember the Monarchs’ final touchdown scored by Bodnar, one minute into the fourth quarter.

With the ball at the Irvine 43, Bodnar took a pitch from Flynn and headed around the right end. After stiff-arming one Irvine defender, a great block from wide receiver David Castleton sprung Bodnar up the right sideline, untouched, for the touchdown.

What Henigan didn’t like was Bodnar’s alleged antics before he reached the end zone.

“He taunted us,” Henigan said. “If one of my players does something like that, he’s on the bench. (Bodnar) stayed in the game, but I guess that’s just a difference in philosophies.”

Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said he didn’t see the end of the play.

“I don’t know what (Henigan) is so upset about,” Rollinson said. “Well, look at the scoreboard.”

That’s where the Monarchs were in complete control.

Mater Dei took a 10-0 lead in the first half on Bodnar’s first touchdown run and a field goal by Patrick Shinnefield.

Bodnar’s 40-yard run set up his two-yard touchdown run with 1 minute 21 seconds remaining in the first quarter. On the Monarchs’ next possession, they moved 58 yards in eight plays and Shinnefield connected on a 50-yard field goal.

Irvine made it close on its next series, scoring on a perfectly executed shovel pass from Scott Larsen to Jeff Walker, who caught six passes for 109 yards.

Walker caught the pass at the line of scrimmage, broke Kevin Donahue’s attempted tackle, and raced 51 yards for a touchdown.

A two-point conversion pass from Ryan Phelps to Jamie Bertolli cut Mater Dei’s lead to 10-8, but that was Irvine’s last highlight.

Irvine’s offense sputtered although Larsen completed 11 of 19 passes for 146 yards.

But the Mater Dei offense continued to roll.

Fullback Joey Trampush, who rushed for 68 yards in 10 carries, had a one-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds remaining in the third quarter, and Flynn’s scramble around right end for a two-point conversion made it 21-8.

Wide receiver Rod Perry caught four passes from Flynn for 100 yards, balancing the Monarch attack.

“Hey, our kicker and the defense gave us great field position,” Flynn said. “They did a great job too.”