High school football: No. 2 Mater Dei holds off upset-minded No. 7 Corona Centennial 43-20

No. 2 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) didn't need any come-from-behind heroics this time around. A week after gutting out a 24-21 road win over Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), the Monarchs rolled No. 7 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 43-20 on Friday in the MaxPreps High School Football Game of the Week.

Elijah Brown tossed three touchdown passes to Marcus Brown and the junior quarterback added a rushing score as the Monarchs scored 22 straight points to end the first half, cruising to another big victory for Bruce Rollinson's bunch.

After trading possessions in the first quarter, Mater Dei opened the scoring on a five-yard quarterback keeper by Brown with about three minutes left in the opening period. But just as the Monarchs took a 7-0 lead, the Huskies answered on the ensuing possession as Centennial quarterback and Arizona State commit Izzy Carter busted off a 73-yard touchdown run on a draw to knot the score at 7-7 still inside the first period.

Then the flood gates opened for Mater Dei as the Monarchs closed the first half on a 22-point outburst to take a 29-7 edge into intermission. After pinning the Huskies deep in their own territory, the Mater Dei defense came up big as Leviticus Su'a stuffed Cornell Hatcher, Jr. in the end zone for a safety and a 9-7 edge.

After the safety, Elijah Brown threw a pair of second-quarter touchdowns to Marcus Brown following a Nate Frazier 13-yard score. Up 16-7, Brown threw a deep fade to the corner of the end zone that dropped over Brown's shoulder to put Mater Dei up 22-7 after the extra point was blocked.

After Centennial gave the ball back, Brown executed the perfect two-minute drive, hitting Marcus Brown in stride on a 55-yard strike with seconds remaining in the half for a 29-7 edge.

The Monarchs opened the second half by turning the ball over on downs before capitalizing on a muffed punt. Ramere Davis recovered the mistake and Jordon Davison punched the ball in a few plays later on 4th-and-1.

Carson Conklin, splitting quarterback reps with Carter, staunched the bleeding with a four-yard scoring run to cap a 75-yard drive, but the Huskies trailed 36-14 with about three minutes left in the third.

Elijah Brown and Marcus Brown hooked up for their third touchdown combo on a 63-yard post as Mater Dei boosted the lead to 43-14. Conklin tossed a touchdown pass to Cory Butler, Jr. just inside the fourth quarter to trim the lead to 43-20.

Mater Dei (3-0), which has wins over West (Salt Lake City) and Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), hosts La Mirada on Sept. 9. Centennial drops to 2-1 and hosts JSerra Catholic on Sept. 9.