SANTA ANA – The No. 1 team in the nation played like it.
Mater Dei thumped Servite 49-0 on Friday in the Trinity League football opener for both teams Friday at Santa Ana Stadium.
Mater Dei, ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps.com and others and No. 1 in the Orange County Top 25, is 6-0 overall. Servite (4-2 overall) is No. 4 in the county rankings.
The Monarchs scored touchdowns on all seven of their possessions.
Senior quarterback Elijah Brown threw five touchdown passes and completed passes to nine different teammates. He completed 21 of 26 passes for 303 yards without an interception.
Senior running back Ajon Bryant had five receptions for 69 yards. Marcus Brown caught two of Elijah Brown’s touchdown passes, and Marcus Harris, Jack Ressler and Jonah Smith caught the others.
Backup quarterback Reagan Toki threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt in the fourth quarter.
Mater Dei had five sacks, four in the first half. Linebacker Ramere Davis had 2.5 sacks, junior linebacker Nasir Wyatt had one and senior lineman Zeus Venegas had one. The Monarchs defense held Servite to minus-21 yards rushing (sacks are applied to rushing yardage in high school football).
Mater Dei leads Servite in their decades-long series 45-17-2.
Mater Dei first-year head coach Frank McManus was happy with the results, especially because the team struggled somewhat in a 20-7 win last week over St. Frances Academy in Baltimore.
“I think our offensive guys tried to build a little more confidence coming out of Baltimore,” McManus said, “and I think they succeeded.”
As for the defense, McManus said, “They’re playing really well. They’re on top of it.”
Elijah Brown said the offensive unit played closer to its potential this week.
“If we just play as one, no one can really stop us, “ said Brown who committed to Stanford. “Great coaching and great play calling (in this game). The offense was working as a team today.”
Mater Dei and Servite…
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