No. 1 Mater Dei seeks new ground with win over No. 5 St. John Bosco

Video: Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco preview
What to watch for Saturday as two national powers collide for fourth time in two years.

When the clock read zeroes on Sept. 1, the football team from Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) celebrated like it won a game of chess, not like it had snapped the 55-game win streak of three-time defending national champion Bishop Gorman with a resounding 35-21 victory.

"Oh, that's a big deal and a nice win," said 6-foot-7, 321-pound Alabama-bound offensive tackle Tommy Brown. "But we have a long season to go."

Said UCLA-bound receiver Chris Parks: "We have a lot of things we want to accomplish."

Nearly two months to the day, on Saturday at Cerritos College, the Monarchs (13-0) can accomplish something no other Mater Dei squad has — reach the CIF state tournament.

The unanimous No. 1 team in the country needs to beat Trinity League rival and fifth-ranked St. John Bosco (Bellflower) (11-2) in the Southern Section Division I final to reach its ultimate destination, the state Open Division championship in Sacramento, where it likely will face No. 15 De La Salle, a program Mater Dei has some history to settle.

The Monarchs won two mythical national championships in the 90s, but lost four straight games to De La Salle in the latter part of the decade, which seemed to wobble the program from its Southern California perch.

Teams like Centennial (Corona), Long Beach Poly, Mission Viejo and lately Bosco, seemed to pass the storied program coached by legendary Bruce Rollinson (285 wins, 32 losses in 29 seasons). But led by one of the most prolific quarterbacks in state history, JT Daniels, the Monarchs have risen back to national prominence the last three seasons, going a combined 36-4.

With perhaps the country's best brigade of wide receivers and most dominant offensive line in front of Daniels, along with a rugged, active defense, this is believed to be Mater Dei's most talented and efficient team in school history.

The Monarchs have outscored an impressive line of opponents 623-184, including a 153-41 margin thus far in what is widely considered the toughest playoff bracket in the country.

Now the only thing in front of them is Bosco, a program that has taken its place as preeminence in one of the country's hotbeds. The Braves will be making its fifth straight title appearance in the Southern Section's highest class — believed to be a first — and going after its third title following 2013 and 2016 crowns, both followed by state-bowl crowns over De La Salle.

Bosco is led by perhaps the country's top secondary and one of the nation's top sophomore quarterbacks, DJ Uiagalelei, a fast-rising, big-armed 6-foot-4, 240-pounder who has thrown for 2,733 yards, 29 touchdowns and two interceptions in just seven varsity starts.

Last week, he accounted for 382 yards and five scores in a 62-34 win over then fifth-ranked Centennial. He looks much more comfortable than his first start, a 31-21 loss to Mater Dei on Oct. 13 where he was 12-of-22 passing for 257 yards and two scores, but was sacked five times.

Mater Dei beat St. John Bosco 26-21 to take the Trinity League title in 2016, only to lose 42-28 in last year's section finals to Bosco. It was a fact Mater Dei players were constantly reminded of during a Southern Section press conference Monday. Video of last year's title game was also shown.

Watching it "gave me a nasty taste in my mouth," Mater Dei senior center Kekaniokoa Gonzalez told the Orange County Register. "It reminded me of how our seniors felt last year. We don't want to go out like that again." Surely, Bosco doesn't want to taste defeat either. It did so in the finals in 2014 and 2015 to Centennial.

But clearly, this is Mater Dei's dream season. The Monarchs have been the top team since day one. They haven't wavered.

"This is pretty much our Super Bowl," Gonzalez said. "We compete against all these guys all throughout the season, the preseason. This is where we live and this is where we want to take it home."

Top 5 talking points

1. No secrets

This is the fourth meeting between these teams in two seasons. Mater Dei has won two of the last three. In 2015, Bosco led 42-7 after three quarters in a 41-21 victory to claim another Trinity League season, meaning the series is split 2-2 in games involving players currently on these rosters.

"They know what we do and they know what we do," Bosco coach Jason Negro said. "Simply, it comes down to who plays better on Saturday night."

2. JT vs. DJ The quarterbacks are so good they are known simply by their initials. Daniels is rated the top junior quarterback in the country and committed to USC. He has 39 career starts, 11,482 career yards, 144 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions. He's also turned himself into a running threat this season, rushing for 479 yards and seven scores. He had 312 yards passing and 103 yards rushing the first time the teams met. "He's been phenomenal when everyone expects him to be, which is always," Rollinson said.

Uiagalelei just keeps getting better. "He checks all the boxes for greatness," Negro said.

3. Mater Dei receivers vs. Bosco secondary Mater Dei features the nation's second-rated wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown (57 catches, 1,057 yards, 18 touchdowns in 10 games), but it just starts there. Parks (47-675-5), Nikko Remigio (38-655-9) and Bru McCoy (37-648-6) all are Division I recruits.

Bosco counters with safeties, Ohio State-bound Jaiden Woodbey and UCLA-bound Stephan Blaylock, the nation's second-rated junior cornerback Christopher Steele and Level Price.

"There's athletes everywhere on both sides," Negro said. "That's one heck of a game inside a game."

4. Hogs vs. Hogs Everyone knows every football game is one in the trenches. Mater Dei's offensive line — featuring Brown, Gonzalez (Boise State) and guards Christopher Murray and Mason Kolinchak — has barely allowed Daniels to be touched. Bosco's front seven features linemen Sal Spina, Na'im Rodman, Cole Aubrey and Sua'aua Poti, along with linebackers Kedron Williams (Washington State) and Ralen Goforth, all D1 prospects.

Mater Dei's defensive front seven, led by 4-star linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu and defensive end Andrew Faoliu, along with Bosco's offensive line, led by Cole Sain and Kevin Coblentz, often get overlooked with so many standouts.

"We're definitely going to play with a chip on our shoulder," Brown told the Register. "We just need to play with more heart and trust in our coaches."

5. Rollinson's last hurrah?

The 68-year-old has done it all other than get to the state tournament (started in 2006) and beat De La Salle. He'll have to get through Bosco to get that all done. If he does, it would be a great way to go out, though he doesn't sound like he's in any hurry.

"As long as they keep having me back, I'll be back," he said.