Mater Dei sprints past Bishop Gorman, 42-0

Video: Mater Dei vs. Bishop Gorman game highlights

A rocky start to Friday's game following a deflating forfeit defeat earlier in the week didn't deter the defending national champions.

Not one bit. In fact, it might have fueled them.

Ignited by its dynamic transfer quarterback Bryce Young, second-ranked Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) used big plays and a rugged defense to record a surprisingly lopsided 42-0 victory at Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) Friday before a packed house at pristine Fertitta Field and a national ESPNU television audience. Young, who transferred to Mater Dei after 2017 MaxPreps National Player of the Year and current USC quarterback J.T. Daniels reclassified from a junior to a senior last winter, accounted for five touchdowns, including four through the air, as the Monarchs defeated Gorman for a second straight season.

It was the first time Gorman had been shutout since 2006.

"I didn't see this one coming," Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson, in his 30th season, told the Orange County Register.

Few did. Not by six touchdowns.

Young completed 10 of 13 passes for 254 yards and rushed three times for 47 more. The Monarchs scored on four touchdowns of 49 yards or longer and had a late 95-yard interception return by Elias Ricks nullified by a pair of illegal blocks on the spectacular return.

The 6-foot, 185-pound Young, considered one of the top junior quarterbacks in the nation, completed TD passes of 76 and 49 yards to fleet transfer running back Sean Dollars, a 60-yarder to Shakobe Harper and a 7-yarder to Bru McCoy. Dollars added a 55-yard TD sprint midway through the fourth quarter.

But it was a gritty and athletic 34-yard touchdown run by Young that started the scoring and set the tone.

On 4th-and-5, Gorman pressured hard, but did a good job of keeping Young hemmed in. The nifty quarterback broke up the middle, scooted outside and rather than go out of bounds at the 10, he bulled up field for seven more yards before diving into the end zone for a spectacular TD run.

"That's what Bryce does," Rollinson said at halftime. "He just needed to settle down. He was too amped up early." On Mater Dei's next possession, Dollars, an Oregon commit, took a short pass from Young over the middle, broke one tackle, then sprinted the final 40 yards untouched, completing a 49-yard TD, making it 14-0 with 8:47 left in the second quarter.

Gorman, behind Micah Bowens, couldn't afford to fall behind further, and responded with a gritty drive all the way to the Mater Dei 4. Bowens, looking very much like Young, converted a pair of fourth-down plays, but on fourth-and-goal, a reverse pass to the open Gorman quarterback was overthrown.

Mater Dei took over on downs, and had a comfortable two-touchdown halftime cushion.

Young quickly made it three touchdowns, with another superb individual effort. Flushed out of the pocket, on the dead run to his right, he fired a perfect strike to Harper who sprinted untouched to complete a 60-yard touchdown, making it 21-0 with 10:53 left in the third.

Desperate to make it a game, Gorman went for it on 4th-and-2 from its own 21. But a Bowens pass was deflected, Mater Dei took over and three plays later, Young hooked up with McCoy on a 7-yard TD, giving the Monarchs a 28-0 lead midway through the third.

This one was essentially over.

Dollars put an bow on this one, turning another short pass into a 76-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, making it 35-0. This was a meeting of the two previous national champions after the Gaels won the title in 2016.

Mater Dei, which received at least 13 new transfers during the off-season, was a little out of sorts during an opening 42-14 win over Bishop Amat last week. The team, with an entirely new offensive line, committed 15 penalties.

On Wednesday, the Monarchs self reported an ineligible player they used during the game and had to forfeit. 

Rollinson told the Register he challenged the team in a meeting on Wednesday. "It (was) either going to bring us tighter or it's going to split us apart. And they just came together."

Said McCoy, a 5-star athlete with 27 college offers: "Regardless of adversity, we show up when it counts. We came together as a brotherhood. We played for each other. We did everything we're taught to do."

Gorman (0-1) has won nine consecutive large division state championships and went three straight seasons going undefeated, starting in 2014. The Gaels normally inflict lopsided losses.

"That's on the coaches," Gorman coach Kenny Sanchez told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I didn't have those guys ready to go. We're not 42 points worse than that team. We looked sloppy; too many penalties. That's a bad job by me. ... We have about 24 hours to get over it. It's adversity. That just happened. It is what it is. That's not going to get erased."

Both teams are on the road next week.Gorman travels to Centennial (Peoria, Ariz.) while Mater Dei plays at La Mirada.