It wasn't pretty, but No. 1
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) opened the Frank McManus era Friday by hanging on for a 28-14 win over No. 15
Centennial (Corona, Calif.) as
Elijah Brown threw for two scores.
The last time the Monarchs (1-0) opened the season as the No. 1 team in the MaxPreps Top 25 they ran the table en route to the 2017 MaxPreps National Championship.
They looked every bit the part of the top team in the nation for most of the night Friday.
Mater Dei was up 21-0 with nine minutes remaining before Centennial scored twice to make it interesting. After the Huskies pulled to 21-14,
Nate Frazier iced the game with a late TD to give the Monarchs a two-score cushion.
Brown, the Stanford commit who is now 30-1 in his prep career, connected with
Marcus Brown on a 23-yard score just inside the second quarter and
Jordon Davison added a 6-yard scoring run to give the Monarchs a 14-0 halftime advantage.
The defense, led by lineman
Nasir Wyatt, limited a potent Centennial offense to 86 yards in the first half.
Mater Dei linebacker Abduall Sanders puts the wraps on on Centennial quarterback Husan Longstreet during Friday night's clash in Southern California. (Photo: Louis Lopez)
In the third quarter, Brown found
Jonah Smith for a 35-yard TD to give Mater Dei a 21-0 lead.
The Huskies finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth as
Cornell Hatcher, Jr. converted on a fourth-and-3 for a 10-yard TD run to pull Corona Centennial to 21-7 with nine minutes left.
On the ensuing Centennial possession, the Huskies were driving before a fumble recovered by
Kainoa Davis seemed to end any comeback hopes. But Mater Dei's Elijah Brown telegraphed a screen pass and
Tayten Beyer jumped the route for a 60-yard pick-six to cut the lead to 21-14 with 4:32 left.
Centennial transfer quarterback
Husan Longstreet
showed glimpses of his talent but was sacked four times in the opening half. He came to the Inland Empire power
after leading Inglewood to a 13-1 mark last season, throwing for more
than 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns as the Sentinels reached the
Southern Section Division 2 final.
Mater Dei travels to Utah power Bingham on Aug. 26 before a pair of home games against out-of-state foes Creekside (Fairburn, Ga.) on Sept. 2 and Kahuku on Sept. 9. Then the Monarchs head to the East Coast for a MaxPreps Top 25 showdown with No. 6 St. Frances Academy, which lost on Friday, before opening Trinity League play the first weekend on October.
Centennial has Santa Margarita next on the schedule before hosting Punahou (Honolulu) on Sept. 2. Then head coach Matt Logan takes his team for the first out-of-state game in his 27-year tenure – a Sept. 8 game at preseason No. 2 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas).
Mater Dei senior running back Ajon Bryant in action against Centennial. (Photo: Louis Lopez)
