4. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 51, Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 37 in 2007
The arm of Mater Dei's
Matt Barkley won out over the legs of Centennial's
Ryan Bass in a regular-season thriller that saw the teams combine for more than 1,200 yards of total offense. Barkley, who went on to win Gatorade National Player of the Year honors, completed 21 of 32 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-clinching score on a 6-yard pass to
Chais Pinesett with 5:07 left in the fourth quarter. Bass, meanwhile, rushed 44 times for 326 yards and four touchdowns, including a 65-yard run early in the fourth quarter that cut Mater Dei's lead to seven points, 44-37.
As big as Bass was for the Huskies, quarterback
Matt Scott also had a huge night. He completed 11 of 25 passes for 178 yards and also ran 19 times for 177 yards. All total, Centennial had 503 yards on the ground to go with Scott's passing total. The Huskies had 681 yards of total offense.
[MaxPreps Story]The Monarchs also piled up the yardage, gaining 256 yards on the ground behind
Jaron Hytche's 126 yards and
Robert Mojica's 132. According to stats posted on MaxPreps, the teams combined for 1,302 yards, although the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book lists the game total at 1,295 yards, which still set a state record.
The teams kept it close throughout. Centennial tied the game at 10 early in the second quarter, but Mater Dei took a 23-17 lead at halftime on a 7-yard run by Mojica. The teams exchanged the lead throughout the third period with
Centennial taking the lead on a 12-yard run by Bass, only to relinquish it to the Monarchs on Hytche's 20-yard run. A 1-yard run by Bass put the Huskies in front again, but Hytche's 1-yard blast at the end of the third and another at the start of the fourth gave Mater Dei the lead for good.
Mater Dei ended the season at 9-2 and did not advance past the second round of the Southern Section playoffs. Centennial (13-2), meanwhile, did not lose again until the CIF Open Division Bowl Game, where it lost to De La Salle 37-31.
