High school football: No. 1 Mater Dei survives first-half test, beats No. 8 Centennial 42-25

No. 1 ranked Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) survived a first-half test, pulling away after intermission for a season-opening 42-25 win over No. 8 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) on Thursday night.

It was the Mater Dei debut for head coach Raul Lara, senior quarterback Dash Beierly and five-star junior wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. The wideout dazzled by hauling in a jump-ball touchdown in the back of the end zone midway through the second quarter from Beierly. The signal-caller, committed to Washington, executed the game plan nicely by throwing for two touchdowns on the night.

Mater Dei jumped out to an early 15-0 lead before Centennial fought back to cut the deficit to 22-17 at the half without five-star quarterback Husan Longstreet who was held out due to a foot injury.

In his place was junior Dominick Catalano, who threw 19 passes last year as a sophomore and completed 15. On the first play from scrimmage, he scrambled for 23 yards and took the Huskies across midfield before throwing an interception to Penn State commit Daryus Dixson.

Mater Dei capitalized as senior Oregon commit Jordon Davison ran for a 44-yard touchdown. The Monarchs defense then forced a turnover as Oregon commit Nasir Wyatt pounced on the loose ball. One play later, Beierly found Mark Bowman — the No. 1 sophomore tight end in the nation — for a 7-yard touchdown to give Mater Dei a 15-0 lead.

The Huskies answered when Catalano rushed for the score after a long drive to make it 15-7.

The Monarchs had to convert a fourth-and-long play on their next possession to extend the drive, then Beierly hit Henry in the corner of the end zone for a score to go up 22-7.

Centennial struck back quickly as Catalano threw a strike to three-star Arizona State commit Cory Butler Jr. for a 76-yard score to make it 22-14. After a Mater Dei punt, Centennial had 2:11 to work with in the first half. Catalano worked the field and got the Huskies in field goal range as senior kicker Kenneth Junger buried a 36-yard field goal to cut the lead to 22-17.

After trading punts to start the second half, Mater Dei senior kicker Dominic Zante booted a 25-yard field goal with 2:34 in the third to take a 25-17 lead.

Monarchs' junior defensive back Shaun Scott then changed the game. 

On third and long, he broke through the line with a sack that forced a punt. On the punt, he again got to the ball for the block. Junior four-star defensive lineman Tomuhini Topui picked up the ball and rumbled into the end zone for a 32-17 lead with 21 seconds left in the third quarter.

Centennial drove down the field before Mater Dei freshman Ace Leutele intercepted a Catalano pass in the end zone with 11:10 to play.

The Monarchs ran nearly six minutes off the clock before senior running back Trenton Dunn plunged in from 9 yards out to take a 39-17 lead. Zante added on another field goal from 33 yards out to give Mater Dei a 42-17 lead before a late Centennial score and two-point conversion.