Mater Dei football delivers lights-out performance to beat Servite in enthralling battle

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SANTA ANA — Mater Dei’s top-ranked football team took the best shot from rival Servite on Saturday night but had just enough firepower left to seize control of the Trinity League race.

Santa Ana Stadium also had just enough power, too.

Quincy Craig rushed for four touchdowns on four carries and Raleek Brown added a season-high 162 yards on the ground as the Monarchs defeated No. 2 Servite 46-37 to take sole possession of first place in the league and a major step toward the No. 1 seed for the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs.

Mater Dei, ranked No. 1 in the nation, beat the Friars for the 10th consecutive year and improved to 7-0 overall, 4-0 in league with JSerra remaining on its schedule.

Servite, ranked eighth in the nation, fell to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in league with a showdown at St. John Bosco remaining next week.

The game was briefly stopped late in the fourth when the lights went out at Santa Ana Stadium, which attracted a sellout crowd of close to 10,000.

The game lived up to expectations. The clash featured four ties — and nearly a critical fifth — and 815 yards of offense despite two strong defenses.

“We knew it was going to be an offensive game because they’re good on offense and we’re good on offense,” said Brown, a senior running back committed to Oklahoma. “We just came ready to go and we did this for Coach Rollo. This is his game.”

Some of the offensive numbers:

• Servite quarterback and Arizona commit Noah Fifita completed 26 of 41 passes for 306 yards
• Servite wide receiver and Oregon commit Tetairoa McMillan had 15 catches for 163 yards and two TDs.
• Mater Dei sophomore QB Elijah Brown completed 17 of 23 passes for 247 yards to improve to 12-0 as a starter.
• Monarchs wide receiver and Notre Dame commit CJ Williams had eight receptions for 135 yards.

“Noah, you can’t say enough about him – T-Mac,” Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said. “(Servite) played well up front, and I’m pleased with how we responded. I thought our offensive line was incredible tonight. They just kept battling.

“And what do you say about a 10th grader (Elijah Brown) in his 12th game? … And then you got Raleek Brown.”

Servite gave Mater Dei its toughest game so far this season. The Monarchs were tied at halftime with St. John Bosco but sprinted the final two periods to a 42-21 triumph.

“For us to be in the game, our kids played really hard and really well,” Servite coach Troy Thomas said. “(Mater Dei) is loaded. It’s one of the best high school teams I’ve seen. They’re so deep and they’re good at every position.”

Raleek Brown helped seal the victory with a 22-yard TD run with 7:49 left in the fourth quarter as the Monarchs took a 46-37 lead.

The second half featured ties at 24-24 and 31-31.

Servite tied the score for the third time with an 11-play, 80-yard drive to open the second half. Houston Thomas scored from 2 yards as the Friars knotted the score 24-24.

Mater Dei responded with its own 80-yard scoring drive to retake the lead. Craig ran in from 6 yards run for his third score on as many carries, giving Mater Dei a 31-24 lead. Elijah Brown sparked the possession with a 38-yard strike to Williams.

But Servite hung tough by tying the score again. Fifita capped an 89-yard march with a 23-yard TD pass to a leaping McMillan at the side of the end zone with 3:15 left in the third. The extra-point by David Lugo tied the score at 31-31.

Mater Dei, however, never blinked.

Craig returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards to the Servite 45-yard line. The senior then scored on a 5-yard TD run for his fourth score on a many carries. The Monarchs’ added the 2-point conversion on a busted play as holder Ryan DiDodo — also the punter– avoided the rush of McMillan to toss a pass to linebacker Malaki Te’o for a 39-31 lead with 1:04 left in the third.

The left-handed DiDodo sprinted to his left and threw on the run just before getting pushed out of bounds.

Rollinson said DiDodo suffered a broken wrist on the play but credited the senior for giving Mater Dei important momentum and forcing Servite to consider its own 2-point conversion, which indeed happened.

“(We) were believing big-time by that point,” Rollinson said of the conversion. “How does a punter find a guy open? … It’s unbelievable.”

Servite kept the pressure on early in the fourth. The Friars forced a short punt and capitalized with a 17-yard TD strike from Fifita to McMillan. Their 2-point conversion pass failed, leaving the Monarchs with a 39-37 lead with 10:18 left in the fourth.

Thomas called Mater Dei’s 2-point conversion “huge” and questioned whether the Friars gambled too much by going for their 2-point try.

“Now I’m going to kick myself — probably should have went for one because then it’s an eight-point instead of having to score twice,” he said. “I can’t believe they got that (2-point conversion).”

After holding against the 2-point conversion, Mater Dei answered back with an 80-yard scoring drive that Raleek Brown closed with a 22-yard touchdown run as the Monarchs opened a two-score lead at 46-37.

Brown rushed for 162 yards on 21 carries.

Mater Dei opened the game with an eight-play, 64-yard scoring drive capped by a leaping 23-yard touchdown catch by CJ Williams on a well-placed pass by Elijah Brown.

Servite responded with a 37-yard field goal by David Lugo and a big play from its special teams. Newly-returned Emmett Mosley blocked a punt that Jacob Manu returned 33 yards for a touchdown to give the Friars a 10-7 lead with 3:47 left in the first quarter.

Mosley, who has missed much of the season due to injury, saw significant time at corner. “He’s a special kid.” Thomas said of the sophomore.

But Mater Dei kept its composure, driving for its own field goal, a 22-yard boot by Chase Meyer late in the first quarter to tie score 10-10.

The teams then traded touchdowns. Servite running back Houston Thomas broke a 23-yard touchdown to cap an 80-yard drive early in the second quarter.

Craig then punctuated a long drive with a 2-yard TD run to push the score to 17-17  Raleek Brown sparked the march by breaking a 46-yard run to the Servite 15-yard line.

After the Monarchs defense made a fourth-down stop at its 35, Mater Dei drove for another 2-yard TD run by Craig to take a 24-17 lead with 2:08 left in the opening half. Elijah Brown set up the score with a 36-yard connection to Williams on third-and-9 that moved the ball to the Servite 2-yard-line.

Despite all the offense, the showdown featured some strong defensive efforts. Defensive end David Bailey recorded 3 1/2 sacks for Mater Dei while Michigan commit Mason Graham had two for Servite. Mater Dei safety Josh Hunter recorded a game-high 10 tackles and added a sack.

Next week, Mater Dei closes out the regular season by playing host to JSerra (3-6, 0-4) at Santa Ana Stadium while Servite travels to St. John Bosco (8-1, 3-1).