The Mater Dei defense only allowed two first downs during the first 24 minutes and forced three turnovers. Senior USC signee
Raesjon Davis turned one of those into a pick-six from 18 yards out.
The Monarchs improved to 41-3 since the start of the 2017 season and notched their fifth consecutive win over JSerra Catholic.
In addition to one of the nation's top high school football programs returning to the field, the other big story was
Elijah Brown becoming the fourth freshman quarterback to start for Bruce Rollinson at Mater Dei and first since JT Daniels did in 2015.
Matt Barkley and Todd Marinovich were the other two.
Freshman Elijah Brown threw for three touchdowns in his debut at Mater Dei.
Photo by Heston Quan
The 6-foot-2, 182-pound signal caller threw for two scores in the first half and looked calm and collected in his Monarch debut. The first was a 17-yard pass to senior
Josiah Zamora to take a 7-0 lead. On the following drive he threw a perfect ball to three-star junior
Cooper Barkarte for a 35-yard touchdown.
Five-star junior Oklahoma commit
Raleek Brown looked explosive in his first game as a Monarch. The former Edison (Stockton) standout racked up over 100 total yards and added a six-yard touchdown to put Mater Dei up 28-0 with 11:18 left in the second quarter.
Freshman running back
Ajon Bryant tacked on a five-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 35-0.
Chase Meyer connected on a 27-yard field goal with six seconds left in the first half to go up 38-0.
Brown threw his third touchdown of the night on the opening possession of the second half to junior running back
Quincy Craig to take a commanding 45-3 lead. That drive would be the last for Mater Dei's starters.
Bryant added his second rushing touchdown late in the third quarter to extend the lead to 52-3.
Three-star junior defensive back
Joshua Hunter intercepted a pass in the second half to give the Monarchs defense their fourth turnover of the night.
Up next for Mater Dei is Orange Lutheran (0-1) on March 26. JSerra Catholic will look to bounce back next week against Santa Margarita (1-0).
Oklahoma commit Raleek Brown also made an impressive debut for Mater Dei on Friday night.
Photo by Heston Quan
