Third-ranked Mater Dei turns the tables, shocks No. 1 St. John Bosco

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Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) football coach Bruce Rollinson reminded his team before Friday's Southern Section Division 1 championship game with No. 1 ranked St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) that this was a game of great opportunity.

"You rarely get a chance to right a wrong during the course of a season," he yelled at his team. "You have that chance tonight. Take advantage of it."

And the Monarchs did.

The defense shut down Bosco's high-octane offense led by junior All-American quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and the offense put a stranglehold on the ball to pull out a gritty 17-13 victory before more than 10,000 fans at Cerritos College. 

Bosco drilled Mater Dei 41-18 on Oct. 13 when Uiagalelei torched the defending national champions for five touchdown passes in the first half alone. It was the first Mater Dei loss on the field in 22 games.

They didn't forget that Friday as Braves, averaging 470 yards per game, mustered just 202.  Mater Dei's secondary was brilliant, holding Uiagalelei to just seven completions in 19 attempts for 105 yards passing, one touchdown with two interceptions.

Mater Dei actually squandered offensive opportunities, but got touchdowns from Bru McCoy and and Shakobe Harper to move into a CIF Open Division Bowl championship game Dec. 8 against the Northern California representative.

This was the third straight year the teams met in the Southern Section Division 1 championship and the second win for the Monarchs. A 19-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Young to McCoy, gave Mater Dei its first lead, 14-7, with 1:22 remaining in the third. When sophomore linebacker Raesjon Davis intercepted Uiagalelei and the Monarchs drove immediately into the red zone, they looked to take complete command.

But a third-down pass to McCoy was broken up by Chris Steele, who then seemed to turn everything around. He blocked a 22-yard field goal by Nick Lopez, Trent McDuffie picked it up and sprinted 75 yards untouched to close to 14-13 with 10:22 left.

But yet another twist. Jacob Garcia, who had made 85 of 86 extra points coming hit, hit one off the upright, keeping Mater Dei ahead, 14-13.

Uiagalelei, who had thrown just five interceptions compared to 42 touchdowns coming in, was picked off for a second time, this one by junior Elias Ricks, who last week had three pick 6s. This time his diving interception set up a 42-yard field goal by Lopez, giving the Monarchs a 17-13 lead with 4:40 left.

Mater Dei, which gave up just nine first downs (it allowed six touchdowns last game), held on downs, and then held on to hand Bosco (13-1) its first defeat.

"Our playmakers made plays," Rollinson told Fox Sports West. "We won the battle up front. And it was an incredible job by our defense."

The game started much like the first game between the two — a 41-18 Bosco win on Oct. !3 — as Uiagalelei took his team right down the field, capped with a 19-yard touchdown pass to a wild open Jude Wolfe, making it 7-0 with 8:37 left in the first quarter.

But from there, it was all Mater Dei the rest of the half. The Monarchs dominated the ball — 18 minutes, 54 seconds to 5:06 for Bosco — but had only one score to show for it, a 2-yard touchdown run by Harper with 1:53 left in the second quarter.

Mater Dei had (12-2) a 182-84 edge in total yards, but the score was tied at 7 at halftime. A fumble by Young at the Bosco 5 and a missed 47-yard field goal kept the Monarchs from taking a lead.

"We just need to get out of our own way," Rollinson told Fox Sports West at halftime. "We can't just give it to these guys."

They didn't. They finished with a 31:34 to 16:26 edge in time of possession and beat Bosco for the fourth time in their last six tries over the last three seasons.