Mater Dei football rallies to edge Centennial behind its defense

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SANTA ANA — Mater Dei’s football team kicked off a challenging, three-game stretch Friday by playing one of its Southern California rivals.

The Monarchs’ defense ensured a passing grade.

Linebackers Dailon Clanton, Michael Davis and Ezekiel Su’a combined for six sacks and two of three takeaways to help the Monarchs rally for a 10-9 victory at Santa Ana Stadium.

Mater Dei (4-0), ranked No. 2 in Orange County and No. 14 in the nation by MaxPreps, forced a missed 27-yard field goal with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter to protect a 10-9 lead.

The Monarchs then re-inserted freshman Paytyn Guess at quarterback. He helped the Monarchs run out the clock by completing an 18-yard pas to Gavin Honore coming out timeout with 1:41 left by the Huskies (1-2).

Centennial entered the nonleague game ranked No. 13 in the nation.

“We’re grateful for the win,” Mater Dei coach Raul Lara said. “The game could have went either way but give a lot of credit to our kids, dealing with adversity and staying strong, staying together.”

“And obviously, our defense’s performance,” the coach added, “Wow. It’s incredible.”

Davis intercepted a shovel pass at the Centennial 15 with 8:35 left in the fourth quarter to set up the score-tying touchdown. After the Monarchs converted their first third-down conversion, quarterback Russell Sekona scored on a 2-yard run to tie the score 9-9 with 6:58 left.

Jerry Shifman converted the extra-point to give the Monarchs their first lead at 10-9.

Davis, a UCLA commit, recorded a sack and two tackles for loss. The senior played outside opposite of Clanton, a New Mexico commit who had three sacks and a forced fumble.

“The defense’s preparation for this week and this week’s game was excellent and we came out here and proceeded to do great,” Clanton said of a unit directed by first-year coordinator Ivan Stephenson. “People said we were going 6-4 this year. … Me and the team took that serious. We worked hard over the offseason.”

Mater Dei faced the Huskies for the first time since the schools’ dramatic semifinal in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs last season. The Huskies won 28-27 to go 2-0 against Mater Dei in 2025.

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Next week on Friday, Sept. 18, Mater Dei returns to Santa Ana Stadium for another rivalry game against Bishop Gorman of Nevada.

The Monarchs will then take their bye before opening the Trinity League against reigning CIF-SS Division 1 and CIF State Open Division champion Santa Margarita at Saddleback College on Oct. 2.

Santa Margarita edged Centennial 21-20 earlier this season.

“It’s Week 3,” Centennial coach Matt Logan said. “There are 12 more weeks of football left and that’s what we plan on doing. We have to take it and get better. … We have to execute better.”

Centennial led 9-3 at halftime but Mater Dei gained some momentum late.

Shifman kicked a 34-yard field goal with 33 seconds left in the second quarter. The Monarchs capitalized on a fumble forced by Troy Bishop in the secondary and recovered by Danny Lang.

Centennial almost responded with its own score before halftime. Jaden Jefferson completed a 49-yard pass to Jaden Bynum to move the Huskies to the Mater Dei 5 but time expired before the next play.

Centennial took a 7-0 lead by opening the game with a 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive. Former Mater Dei running back Kennie Leggett took a reverse to score on a 3-yard run to a cap a march that consumed almost five minutes.

Quentin Hale sparked the drive with a juggling catch as he dueled two defenders, including fellow USC commit Lang.

In the final seconds of the first quarter, the Huskies added a safety when Mater Dei sailed a snap over its punter. The ball went out of the back of the end zone.

Centennial received a boost with the return of right tackle and captain Nicolas Blum-Smith.

Bishop Gorman (4-1), ranked No. 8 in the nation this week, will arrive in Santa Ana next week coming off its bye. Last season, Mater Dei traveled to Las Vegas to hand the Gaels their only loss.

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