No. 1-ranked Mater Dei opened its high school football season on Saturday in Florida looking every bit as good as last season when the Monarchs went unbeaten despite lots of mistakes in the second half.
New quarterback Ryan Hopkins threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter en route to a 26-23 victory over Ft. Lauderdale Aquinas, which has won six straight Florida state titles. Chris Henry Jr. caught two of them, covering 22 and 82 yards. Gavin Honore had a 62-yard touchdown reception.
Mater Dei scored 26 consecutive points after falling behind 3-0 in the first quarter. They led 26-3 at halftime. But the Monarchs went scoreless in the second half.
The Monarchs were hardly perfect, leaving coach Raul Lara plenty to work on. They had two interceptions in the first half that ended with turnovers on fumbles during the returns. Twice the Monarchs botched point-after attempts. There were numerous 15-yard personal foul penalties for taunting, late hits, grabbing the face mask and a horse collar. They had 13 penalties for 140 yards through three quarters.
The defense did what it has been doing well for years — stopping the run. USC commit Tomuhini Topui had a sack and Shaun Scott, another USC commit, was adding pressure at the linebacker position. Danny Lang led the secondary with two pass breakups.
Aquinas had fourth and goal from the one-yard line to start the fourth quarter and failed on a fumble trying to run up the middle to cut a 26-10 deficit. But Hopkins was soon intercepted. Aquinas scored on a quarterback option play by Mason Mallory to close to within 26-16 with 9:44 left. Then it was 26-23 on a touchdown pass with 1:36 left until Mater Dei ran out the clock.
Hopkins finished with 272 yards passing. Henry had four catches for 134 yards.
The Monarchs next make their home debut on Friday in a game that will likely result in a running clock. They face Bishop Montgomery, which lost five transfers to ineligibility.
Mater Dei was one of three Trinity League teams opening in Florida. St. John Bosco won 31-0 on Friday night in a game halted at halftime because of lightning. There was also lightning for Mater Dei’s game that delayed the start by one hour.
Orange Lutheran made it a Trinity League sweep in Florida with a 17-13 win over Miami Northwestern. Reagan Loki threw two touchdown passes to Nico Bland.
Three other Trinity League teams — Santa Margarita, JSerra and Servite — all lost nonleague openers on Friday.
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