Defending national champion, preseason No. 1 Mater Dei opens with win over No. 10 St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida

High school football's preseason No. 1 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) survived an upset bid Saturday after watching a 26-3 halftime lead evaporate, beating No. 10 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 26-23 in the program's first trip to the Sunshine State.

The top-ranked Monarchs saw their offense sputter in the second half while the Raiders scored 20 unanswered. A 4-yard Virgil Lemons touchdown and a Mason Mallory score gave the Raiders life. After Mater Dei's 15th penalty of the night, Aquinas trimmed the lead to 26-23 on a TD catch by Julius Jones with 90 seconds left.

Mater Dei closed the door, however, on the upset as Massachusetts commit Justin Lewis picked up a first down with just over a minute left. The California power and defending national champion took the lead on a 5-yard, first-quarter touchdown run from Lewis. That was a prequel to the offensive fireworks, however, as Wisconsin commit Ryan Hopkins tossed three first-half touchdown passes, including two to Ohio State commit Chris Henry Jr.. Gavin Honore caught a 62-yard strike for a score to close out the scoring in the half for Mater Dei.

Two of Hopkins' three scoring strikes went for more than 60 yards. He finished 8 of 20 for 272 yards and three touchdowns. Henry caught four passes for 134 yards and two TDs. 

Meanwhile, the Mater Dei defense held Aquinas under 100 yards in the first half while grabbing two interceptions - both of which would be fumbled back to the Raiders on the return.

St. Thomas Aquinas (0-1) hosts Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.) next week while Mater Dei (1-0) returns home to host Bishop Montgomery (Torrance, Calif.). Both games are Friday.