So much for playing for second place. So much for a drop off. So much for freshmen folding under pressure.
Host Mater Dei, riding the arm and legs of freshman quarterback
Paytyn Guess, delivered a game for the ages fighting back from a 14-point deficit in the final 3:26 to pull off a wild 36-35 Trinity League win.
Freshman quarterback Paytyn Guess cemented his place in Mater Dei lore Friday night by leading a dramatic comeback against rival Mater Dei. (PHOTO: Rene Morales)
Guess first completed a 12-yard touchdown pass with 7.5 seconds remaining that was snatched out of the air by fellow freshman
Tristan Brown to close to 35-34.
Then rather kick for overtime, Mater Dei head coach Raul Lara called a timeout and the Monarchs designed a beautiful wheel route to a sophomore tight end
Tyler Fritz, who made a juggling catch — his only of the night — for the win.
Just four minutes before, Guess (11 of 15, 214 yards, five total touchdowns) answered Bosco's 21-0 run in the second half with a 55-yard touchdown strike to
Gavin Honore (5 catches, 97 yards) with 3:26 left. To that point, Mater Dei had managed just 37 yards on 15 plays in the second half.
After the Braves recorded one first down, Mater Dei got the ball back at its own 28 with less than a minute and no timeouts. Guess immediately connected with Brown (4 catches, 104 yards) on a 49-yard reception and five plays later delivered his third TD pass of the game, setting up the two-point conversion and win.
Combined with a
Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) win to clinch the title, Mater Dei (8-2, 4-1) earned second place in league play and likely the No. 3 seed in next week's Southern Section Division I playoffs. St. John Bosco (7-3, 3-2), which had scored 21 unanswered second-half points to take a seemingly commanding 35-21 lead, will enter the playoffs in the fourth or fifth spot.
Tyler Fritz of Mater Dei hauls in the game-winning two-point conversion. (PHOTO: Rene Morales)
Bosco, which entered the season ranked No. 1 nationally, lost for the fifth straight time in the series with the Monarchs.
After an impressive but frustrating first half, St. John Bosco tied the game at 21-21 with 8:48 left in the third on a beautiful 27-yard touchdown pass from
Koa Malau'ulu to
Trevon Bates. A 27-yard completion to
Jacob Reid (4 catches, 76 yards) set up the score. Malau'ulu, a third-year starter, completed 26 of 35 attempts for 365 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for one.
After a second three-and-out and short punt, Malau'ulu made the Monarchs pay with five more completions, three to Reid and the last one another pinpoint dime to the back left-corner of the end zone to 6-foot-4 sophomore
Kuika Moaalii (7 catches, 128 yards). That gave the Braves their first lead of the game 28-21 with 3:50 left in the third.
The Braves extended their lead to 35-21 when
Maliq Allen (18 carries, 84 yards) capped a 55-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown with 4:35 left. A 47-yard completion to Moaalii set up the touchdown and with the way Bosco defense played in the second half, this one appeared over. Not so.
Instead, Mater Dei improved its record against the rival Braves to 34-13 in what is sure to be a haunting loss for Bosco.
The Monarchs won last year's game 36-31 and Southern Section Division I title games in 2024 and 2023.
St. John Bosco finished with more passing yards (365 to 214), rushing yards (125 to 101) and total yards (490 to 315) but one less point on the scoreboard. Besides the late flurry, a forced fumble by Mater Dei's
Montana Toilolo on the game's first play led to a Monarchs' recovery and 19-yard touchdown run by Guess inside the first minute. That also proved decisive.
