Quarterback Ryan McMahon and Mater Dei are 4-0 after last year's disappointing season. Are the Monarchs for real? They'll discover the answer Friday against Narbonne.
Photo by Terry Jack
One program is a household name and the other hopes that people can find a way to pronounce its name correctly.
Friday night’s huge Southern California matchup between visiting
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) and
Narbonne (Harbor City, Calif.) is one where you shouldn’t play the name game. The glitz and glamor associated with the private-school Orange County team from the Trinity League (also the alma mater of USC quarterbacks Matt Barkley and Matt Leinart) doesn’t necessarily mean you should expect a Mater Dei whitewash against the Los Angeles City Section team from the public school near the Port of Los Angeles.
Far from it.
Narbonne, ranked No. 5 in the nation by the
MaxPreps Freeman Rankings and No. 14 in the
Xcellent 25, is ready to take the next step in its ascent toward national stardom. Beating a storied program like Mater Dei after the 7 p.m. kickoff would certainly aid in that quest.
Troy Williams, shown in last week's gameagainst Serra, may be Narbonne's bestplayer. But the team does not have todepend on him for its success.
Photo by Ian Tennant
"Even locally, people don’t know how to pronounce our name right. We are on the news all the time and they say Nar-BONE. It’s Nar-BONNE," said Gauchos coach Manuel Douglas, emphasizing the proper pronunciation. "They don’t even say our name correctly, but honestly as long as they are saying it, that’s a good thing."
With the name game issue put aside, the football game (part of the
MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week) is certainly intriguing. You have a Mater Dei team coming in at 4-0 after it went through a dreadful 4-6 season last year, the only losing campaign in coach Bruce Rollinson’s 23-year tenure. And you have Narbonne coming in at 4-0, after a historic throttling of Long Beach Poly and a huge local win over a strong team from Serra. Narbonne ranks No. 2 in the most recent
California Bowl Game Rankings and Mater Dei is sixth, both in Southern California Division I.
It would be easy to say that Narbonne quarterback
Troy Williams will have the biggest impact on the game, as the University of Washington recruit is the most heralded player on either team. But don’t take the easy way out. Douglas said it’s all about the Narbonne defense.
"A lot of it has to do with 10 returning starters on ‘D’ who are playing lights-out right now. The defense is just dominant right now and I don’t think a lot of people realize that," Douglas said. "And Troy is Troy. But we haven’t relied on him to win a game or throw for 400 yards."
Mater Dei, ranked No. 35 nationally in the Freeman Rankings, is famous for quarterbacks but also has confidence in its defensive unit.
"I like the way our defense plays together and deals with adversity. I like their tenacity and the fact that they’re playing together. It’s not individuals, it’s the unit," said Rollinson. "We’re not going in saying we have to stop the run because the quarterback will kill you. The wide receivers will kill you. What we’re saying is, bend but don’t break. Come up and make plays, and when it’s all said and done, just bow your necks and hang on. But I think the flip side is we need to move the chains. We can’t keep throwing our ‘D’ out there or it’s gonna be a long night."
Balance is key for both offenses. Narbonne averages 206 yards per game on the ground and 174 through the air while the Monarchs average 160.8 per game on the ground and 165.8 through the air. Neither defense will be able to key on one particular aspect, and that will require discipline from all 11 men on the field, each play.
Johnell Jackson is part of a ballcarryingtrio for Narbonne.
Photo by Ian Tennant
Narbonne’s rushing attack spreads that wealth between Williams and running backs
Tony Gates (44 carries, 306 yards, 5 touchdowns) and
Johnell Jackson (43-270-3). Junior
Justin Allen (50-295-2) is Mater Dei’s featured back, and you are likely to see
J.C. Genova (23-114-2) and
Treavon Coley (11-140-1) get a few carries as well.
The noteworthy pass-catcher of the game is Cal commit
A.J. Richardson for Narbonne (13 catches, 182 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Mater Dei features sophomore defensive end
Kyle Penniston (6-foot-5, 222 pounds), who has an offer from Florida State, and junior lineman
Sam Bush (6-4, 278 pounds), who also is sure to receive recruiting interest for Mater Dei.
The Monarchs have senior
Ryan McMahon (38 of 59 for 495 yards, 6 TDs and 3 interceptions) at quarterback and also give snaps to junior
Chase Forrest (13-16-155-2-0).
"I still don’t believe our offense has played its best game, and if they’ve been waiting, I hope they don’t try to wait any longer," Rollinson said.
Narbonne knows a win over Mater Dei will improve its name recognition. But a bid to a Regional Bowl Game would be even bigger, and that’s the prize that Douglas and his team is focused upon.
"If we don’t beat them, it doesn’t mean we aren’t going to win a section championship. If we beat them it doesn’t mean we are going to win a section championship," he said. "Everything that we have done to this point is with that point in mind. If we beat Serra, Poly and Mater Dei but don’t win a section championship, does it matter? Not at all."
And for Mater Dei, it wants to prove that it should be recognized not just for its name and legacy — but for winning.
"We kind of blew the program up as soon as the season was over last year. I did a lot of self-evaluation," Rollinson said. "Now we’re going to move on. Whether we’re going to be good, bad or in-between, this is where we’re going to hang our hat."
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