By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
ANAHEIM, Calif. - With a clear path ahead, and a safety and historic win within reach, Servite High's 6-foot-1, 310-pound defensive lineman Evan Huahula looked destined to devour Mater Dei junior Matt Barkley like a mid-day snack.
But this was no Subway sub he was after.
This was the Fillet Mignon of high school quarterbacks he was chasing, sizzling under the bright shimmering lights of Angel Stadium before 25,000 delirious fans.
Huahula got to the 6-4, 225-pound Barkley, right at the goal line, and the two went down in a heap. Was it a safety, Huahula wondered? A sack? There was a short silence and Huahula couldn't tell.
"I thought I had him but when we both went down on the ground I heard the crowd (eventually) go wild," Huahula said. "I knew it wasn't good."
No, it was flat out great.
For the Monarchs anyway.
With Huahula draped around his waist, Barkley flicked the ball 45 yards off his front foot before going down. At the other end, a wide open Andrew Abbott snatched the pass near midfield and was off to the races, completing a back-breaking 97-yard touchdown pass with 10 minutes and 47 seconds remaining.
Servite (Anaheim) had all the momentum and closed to within 21-13, but the dramatic and determined 3rd down-and-11 play gave it all back to Mater Dei which then somersaulted to a 38-13 victory and share of the Trinity League title with the Friars and Lutheran (Orange), all nationally ranked teams this season.
"I'm looking at the play and thinking, `oh great, they have a safety.' We're gonna be up by less than a touchdown,' " Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said. "The next second Barkley is throwing the ball 50 yards on one leg and we're up by two scores. Incredible. The kid is incredible."
Barkley, a third-year starter for the starter for the storied programmed, completed 16 of 25 passes for 345 yards and accounted for four touchdowns. He's now completed 179 of 271 passes for 2,989 yards and 31 TDs (six interceptions) this season.
Friday's performance, which included his first rushing touchdown of the year, made some wonder just how much larger can his prep legend grow and if Mater Dei's inexplicable dominance over Servite will ever end.
The Monarchs haven't lost to the Friars since 1988, going 18-0-1 in that stretch..
"The kid is definitely a stud," Servite coach Troy Thomas said. "He really made some big plays and throws when it counted."
Big timely plays keyed Friday's win as Barkley also completed touchdown passes of 68 and 42 yards to his cousin Robbie Boyer.
The three touchdowns passes accounted for more than half of Mater Dei's 409 yards while the Friars controlled the ball with their offensive massive line, led by Matt Kalil (6-8, 282), paving the way for workhorse D.J. Shoemate, who carried 32 times for 150 yards and a touchdown.
Kalil and Shoemate have both committed to USC next season.
Servite finished with 222 of its 305 yards on the ground which led to a 21-14 edge in first downs. The Friars also ran off 70 plays to just 46 for the Monarchs.
But Mater Dei's defense never caved in. Shoemate, a 6-foot, 221-pound speedy specimen broke off only one double-digit run, a 10-yarder on his finally carry of the night.
"Our big play-makers definitely made big plays all night," Rollinson said. "But I thought our defense was exceptional and our good players made a lot of good plays."
It's just as Rollinson hoped after an extremely humbling 31-12 loss to defending CIF State Division II champion Lutheran last week. Mater Dei, a two-time mythical national champion, dropped drastically from its No. 5 national ranking after the defeat.
"We got our swagger back," Barkley said. "We knew what we had to do tonight and we did it."
Barkley, whose skills and body type resemble Dan Marino as a prep, knew the Monarchs needed a big play after Shoemate's 2-yard TD run cut their lead to 21-13 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Pinned to its own 3 and facing third-and-long, Barkley, who has been sacked only three times all season, couldn't find a receiver and stepped up in the pocket when Huahula closed on him.
"I wasn't going to go down," he said. "(Abbott) did a great job of reading the rout. Once he broke the safety I knew I had to get it out. I just threw it out there for him. I'm glad he didn't get caught."
Abbott (five catches, 140 yards) saw things a little different.
"I thought he was sacked," he said. "I didn't think he would get out of it. But with his (ability) anything is possible.
"Bottom line is when our backs are against the wall our playmakers make plays."
No arguments there.
After both teams had nothing to show for long drives to start the game, Barkley needed just one play to hook up with Boyer on a 68-yard touchdown bomb with 2:22 left in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
Off play-action, Barkley caught Servite in single coverage and Boyer beat his man, catching the ball at the 30 and racing the rest of the way untouched.
Boyer finished with five catches for 134 yards and has 41 catches for 747 yards (18.9 average) and 13 TDs this season.
"Me and Matt have thrown that route 1,000 times before," Boyer said. "They definitely had the right coverage but Matt stuck it. He put the ball on me. There's no way I couldn't catch it."
Three completions to Abbott for 38 yards keyed a 68-yard scoring drive just before the half. On third-and-10 from the 13, Barkley couldn't find anyone open, but did find a huge open space on the right side and sprinted into the end zone, making it 14-0 with 58 seconds left before halftime.
Barkley was drilled by two defenders just as he crossed the goal line.
"Didn't feel a thing," Barkley said. "It only felt good."
It didn't feel good for the Friars, who hurt themselves with untimely penalties during a scoreless first half.
Thomas, who has led Servite to at least a share of three straight titles in his first three seasons, evidently made his point at halftime as the Friars went 66 yards in 11 plays to start the third quarter, capped by a 1-yard TD sneak by Johnny McEntee.
Gregory Portis keyed the drive with the team's longest run of the night, a 16-yarder. Shoemate added six runs for 24 yards.
"We came out with a sense of urgency," Shoemate said. "We just couldn't sustain it all night long."
Like he did all night, Barkley responded immediately with an absolutely gorgeous 42-yard TD bomb to Boyer on virtually the same route as their first TD.
This time, however, Barkley was under heavy duress. Servite, which only got one sack (Anthony Hannon) but deflected five passes at the line of scrimmage, put more pressure on Barkley the second half.
It didn't seem to faze him.
He avoided a big rush by stepping up in the pocket, then got crunched just as he released the ball.
It was right on the money as Boyer, running a post pattern, caught the ball in stride at the goal line.
"He stuck it right in my numbers," Boyer said. "Perfect."
Back in an offensive rhythm, Servite answered right back as McEntee had runs of 16 and 12 yards and completed a 10-yard pass to Shoemate, who capped a 68-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run on the first place of the fourth quarter, making it 21-13.
"We moved the ball, but every time we got it going, something bad happened," Shoemate said.
In this case, it was Barkley's 97-yard TD to Abbott. That emotionally seemed to break the Friars.
On their first play after the TD, McEntee was intercepted by Michael Brown, who returned the ball to the 18. Following three runs by Jaron Hytche, Robert Mojica powered over the left side from the 1, making it 35-13 with 8:30 left.
This one was done.
Patrick Duffy added a 28-yard field goal with 3:15 remaining for the final margin.
Servite actually drove from its 38 to the Mater Dei 7 in the final minute and had a chance to punch it in, but Thomas had the Friars run out the clock.
"We're not going to worry about this one too much," said Thomas, who previously led Crespi to Section titles both as a player and a coach. "We just didn't play clean enough to win. We gave up too many big plays and made some mistakes when we were moving the ball. We have another day."
Mater Dei (8-1), Lutheran (8-1) and Servite (7-2) each went 3-1 in league play and advance to next week's Southern Section Pac-5 playoffs.
Servite won a coin toss early Saturday morning and get to a host a first-round game in the loaded 16-team field. Mater Dei and Lutheran will likely have to travel.
No matter, Barkley said.
"Getting a big win like this is huge before the playoffs," he said. "I think (this win) will carry over no matter what the coin flip says."
Rollinson agrees.
"We got our confidence back which was shaken pretty good (by Lutheran)," he said. "We got ourselves back off the mat."
And riding that other Matt.
MATER DEI 38, SERVITE 13
Servite 0 0 7 6 - 13
Mater Dei 7 7 7 17 - 38
FIRST QUARTER
MD - Boyer 68 pass from Barkley (Duffy kick), 2:22
SECOND QUARTER
MD - Barkley 13 run (Duffy kick), :58
THIRD QUARTER
S - McEntee 1 run (Loftus kick), 6:31
MD - Boyer 42 pass from Barkley (Duffy kick), 4:39
FOURTH QUARTER
S - Shoemate 2 run (kick failed), 11:55
MD - Abbott 97 pass from Barkley (Duffy kick), 10:47
MD - Mojica 1 run (Duffy kick), 8:30
MD - FG, Duffy 28, 3:15
STATISTICS
RUSHING
S: Shoemate 32-150, Portis 7-40, McEntee 8-32. Total 47-222.
MD: Hytche 7-32, Mojica 9-27, Barkley 2-5. Totals 18-64.
PASSING
S: McEntee 9-18-1-83.
MD: Barkley 16-25-0-345, Arthur 0-1-1-0. Totals 16-26-1-345.
RECEIVING
S: Shoemate 3-22, Baquerizo 2-25, Portis 2-15, Urell 1-14, Ostergaard 1-7.
MD: Abbott 5-140, Boyer 5-134, Valdes 3-37, Mojica 1-17, Mumma 1-9, Arthur 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS
S: Storay.
MD: Brown.
SACKS
S: Hannon.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES
MD: Mojica.
TEAM
Total yards: Servite 305, Mater Dei 409.
First downs: Servite 21, Mater Dei 14.
Turnovers: Servite 2, Mater Dei 1.