CIF State Open Division preview: No. 1 Mater Dei vs. No. 15 De La Salle

Video: Preview of De La Salle vs. Mater Dei
Watch and listen to MaxPreps hosts Zack Poff and Myckena Guerrero break down the longtime rivals.

Kenny Sanchez was the only man in America to coach against both top-ranked Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) and No. 15 De La Salle (Concord).

The Bishop Gorman coach led the 14th-ranked Gaels (13-2) to a 34-7 home win over De La Salle two weeks after having their 55-game win streak snapped by Mater Dei, 35-21.

So, when asked about Saturday's CIF Open Division Bowl championship, pitting De La Salle and Mater Dei at Sacramento State, Sanchez naturally assumed the Monarchs would win in a rout. Right?

"Not necessarily," Sanchez said. "I think it's a good match-up for De La Salle. The have the kind of offense that can chew up time with long drives and keep Mater Dei's offense off the field. They just have to make sure they finish." Sanchez understands why most are making the Monarchs, with arguably the best quarterback, offensive line and core of receivers in the nation, a heavy favorite.

Mater Dei beat Gorman, after all, and the Gaels went on to win their ninth straight state title. They beat De La Salle handily. They've scheduled very best programs in the country over the last five years. Is this Monarchs' team the best he's seen.

"Definitely right there," Sanchez said. "Certainly offensively. De La Salle must keep those receivers in front of them."

By most accounts, this has to be Mater Dei's year. De La Salle has won seven CIF State bowl championships out of 11 tries — the Spartans have played in every title game since the inception of the bowl games in 2006 — and this is Mater Dei's first try.

The King of Southern California football throughout the 90s, when they won two mythical national crowns, Mater Dei fell on hard times early in the 2000s, shortly after De La Salle defeating the Monarchs four straight times.

Two of the games were lopsided — 42-0 and 34-6 — both in Northern California. All four games were during De La Salle's famed national best 151-game win streak. While the Spartans went on to incredible heights, Mater Dei seem to slip behind other Southern California programs like Centennial (Corona), St. John Bosco (Bellflower) and Mission Viejo.

Bruce Rollinson, the 29-year Mater Dei coach, said he "blew up," the program in 2011 after the Monarchs didn't make the playoffs at all. It started with some of his own coaching methods. The result has been a rebirth of sorts. Junior quarterback JT Daniels called this the season of "unfinished business."

They snapped Gorman's streak. They beat fifth-ranked and defending state Open Division champion Bosco twice, including a 49-24 triumph in the Southern Section Division I finals to secure their first section crown since 1999. They also avenged a loss in the Southern Section finals to Bosco the season before.

But a win over De La Salle (11-1) would be the utter payback. The Spartans, rarely an underdog, come in a prohibitive one. Mater Dei has 19 FBS Division I recruits between junior and senior classes. De La Salle has four.

So to give his team a little boost, DLS coach Justin Alumbaugh had his squad watch all four of the previous wins, which took place about the time all of them were born. "It was good to go back into Spartan Lore and see how it was done," Alumbaugh said. "It's exciting for these guys. Their trying to win a state title and beat the very best that is out there. We'll have our work cut out."

Rollinson has the upmost respect for the Spartans. Their veer attack concerns him.

"It's a unique system and nobody does it better than them," Rollinson said. "It looks like it did in 1998 with a few more wrinkles. I'm sure they'll have a few more for us Saturday.

"Basically, we told our guys that we're playing ourselves. Usually we feel like we might have an advantage in one area: either conditioning or physicality or execution or special teams. This is a wash. It's definitely keeping us up late at night."

Here's top 10 quotes from either Rollinson, Alumbaugh or Sanchez concerning Saturday's game.

1. Rollinson
On losing those four straight games to De La Salle: "Let's cut the BS, I had some good teams, (De La Salle) enforced their will and kicked our ass. … twice. We had our opportunities. We played them four times and we didn't get it done even once. That resonated with a lot of people then, like ‘C'mon this is Mater Dei. This isn't supposed to happen to us.' "

2. Sanchez
On whether he'd play the payback card if he were Rollinson: "I know we did when we played them. (De La Salle) beat us (28-14) in 2010 and heck yes, we let our guys know about it. I'm not sure if Mater Dei needs to. Seems to me they just need to keep what they're doing." 3. Rollinson
On playing the payback card: "I won't do it. They don't need that on them. They already play with great confidence. I don't want to put that fire out."

4. Alumbaugh
On injuries to starting tailback Kairee Robinson (foot) and his backup Shamar Garrett (knee). "Garrett is probably out which is disappointing because he had really been coming on. It's harder to say with Kairee. He's progressing and will probably give it a go. We need him and (Garrett) on defense as well. That just means we'll see a lot of Henry (To'oto'o). That's not such a bad thing."

5. Sanchez
On stopping De La Salle's veer: "You can stop it for a series or two, but it's difficult to stop for four quarters."

6. Alumbaugh
On slowing down Mater Dei's offense: "(Daniels) is really, really good. He has great receivers everywhere. A great line, running backs, defense. I can't argue with all the alcolades they're receiving. We've got our work cut out."

7. Rollinson
On being an underdog in other regards: "Respectfully, (De La Salle) has advantages over us. They basically have a home game. They have a 40-minute drive (closer to 80) they can make on game day. We're 6-7 hours away, not sleeping in our own beds the night before. … It's not their fault but they haven't had a lot resistance to get here. In the preseason they play anyone anywhere, but week-to-week they don't have as many hurdles as we do. We play in the Trinity League week-to-week and in the toughest bracket in the country."

8. Alumbaugh
On prospects of To'oto'o never coming out of the game: "We've had him watching a lot of film on guys like D.J. Williams and Kevin Simon who played linebacker and carried the load offensively. He can do it. He's special." 9. Alumbaugh
On what it will take to win: "There's little margin for error. We know that. They're loaded everywhere and (Rollinson) does a great job. We have to control the ball, do what we do and play a clean game."

10. Rollinson
On if this is the best team he's ever coached: "We had two mythical national champions go 14-0 before. We had mythical state champions go 14-0. If we win Saturday, we'll be 15-0 with a CIF banner state title. That will set them apart. ... I love this team to death. Sometimes at practice it's hard to get them going, but when the gun goes off they switch to another gear. They really believe in each other. I believe in them too."

Top Recruits

MATER DEI
Record: 14-0
National rank: 1

Top 2018 recruits (California ranking from 247Sports top 400)
1 — WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
9 — LB Solomon Tuliaupupu
26 — OT Tommy Brown (Alabama)
36 — WR Nikko Remigio (Cal)
43 — OG Christopher Murray
66 — WR Chris Parks (UCLA)
129 — DT Samuela Tuihalamaka
163 — DE Andrew Faoliu
186 — C Kekaniokoa Gonzalez (Boise State)
215 — OLB Jack Genova
279 — G Mason Kolinchak
300 — DT Nathan Logoleo

Top 2019 recruits (California ranking from 247Sports top 135)
2 — QB JT Daniels (USC)
4 — ATH Horace McCoy III
18 — DE Kyron Ware-Hudson
21 — LB Mase Funa
57 — TE Michael Martinez
114 — RB Shakobe Harper
128 — S William Nimmo Jr.

DE LA SALLE
Record: 11-1
National rank: No. 15

Top 2018 recruits (California ranking from 247Sports top 400)
12 — DT Tuli Letuligasenoa
374 — RB Kairee Robinson

Top 2019 recruits (California ranking from 247Sports top 135)
3 — LB Henry To'oto'o
10 — TE Isaiah Foskey