Huge breakthrough for No. 2 JSerra
October 25, 2014 12:30 AM
STAFF WRITER
SANTA ANA – The Orange County football universe changed Friday.
JSerra 17, Mater Dei 10.
It was only a few years that JSerra had to forfeit Trinity League games because it did not have enough healthy players to finish the season. Then the Lions started winning a league game here and there. They won their final two league games last year.
Now, JSerra is the No. 1 team in Orange County. The Lions were No. 2 this week in the Register’s poll. They just beat the No. 1 team, Mater Dei.
An obvious question -- Is beating Mater Dei the biggest win in JSerra football history? -- prompted an obvious answer.
“I’d have to say so,” JSerra coach Jim Hartigan said. “Yeah, sure.”
JSerra has won a couple of CIF championships in other sports. But nothing in the young school’s sports history perhaps matches beating Mater Dei in varsity football.
“It’s a great feeling,” JSerra quarterback Nick Robinson said. “I can’t describe it.”
Robinson did his part. His first pass of the game, on JSerra’s first offensive play of the game, was a 97-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Diego-Williams. He threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Sam Philippi in the third quarter to put JSerra ahead to stay, 14-10.
Another big play was something of a gamble. JSerra, on fourth-and-7 at the Lions’ 35-yard line, was lined up for a punt with less than two minutes to go. The snap went to up-back Aaron Matthews who ran it 10 yards for a first down.
That sealed the win for JSerra (7-1 overall, 2-1 in league).
Mater Dei (6-2, 1-2) likely needs to win its next two league games to get a guaranteed playoff berth. The Monarchs might end up being in the pool of candidates for one of the Pac-5 Division’s two at-large berths.
The Lions won without much production from running back Edward Vander. He rushed for 217 yards in last week’s loss to St. John Bosco, but was held to 46 yards on 16 carries Friday; he had only 5 yards on six first-half carries.
Philippi had eight catches for 110 yards. JSerra’s defense made several huge stops.
It was 7-7 at halftime. Mater Dei took a 10-7 lead on a 28-yard field goal by Elais Deeb in the third quarter.
Phippi’s touchdown reception put the Lions ahead to stay, 17-10. Evan Worden added three points on a fourth-quarter field goal.
Mater Dei’s game-opening possession ended with a punt that put JSerra on its 3-yard line. On the first play, Nick Robinson unleashed the long pass over the middle that Diego-Williams caught in stride near the JSerra 40. Diego-Williams outraced the defender for a 97-yard touchdown pass play.
The Monarchs got their first-half points on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Jack Lowary to Andres Udria to tie the game, 7-7, in the second quarter to tie the game, 7-7.
Mater Dei plays home games the next two weeks, the final two weeks of the regular season. The Monarchs play Santa Margarita at Santa Ana Stadium next Friday and play Orange Lutheran there Nov. 7.
JSerra plays Orange Lutheran Thursday at Orange Coast College. The Lions conclude the regular season with a home game against Servite on Nov. 7 at Saddleback College.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
CONOR had an amazing defensive game! We were so proud of Conor and all the boys. They have worked so hard for so long and it paid off tonight!!! CONGRATS Love you Mom, Dad, Elle, Papa and Grandma
Football: JSerra Earns Milestone Win Over Mater Dei
- Updated: 10/25/2014
JSerra’s Sam Philippi escapes a tackle by Mater Dei’s Ben Humphreys and Jalen Cole on a 49-yard touchdown during the third quarter of a Trinity League game at Santa Ana Stadium on Friday, Oct. 24. PHOTO BY JOSH BARBER
SANTA ANA- No more “moral” victories. No more close calls. No more showing improvement in the face of an agonizing defeat.
A gritty road effort by the JSerra Lions against one of the Trinity League’s traditional standards of excellence was finally represented with tangible success on the scoreboard.
JSerra’s Edward Vander is tackled by Mater Dei’s Gerran Brown during the first half of a Trinity League game at Santa Ana Stadium on Friday, Oct. 24. PHOTO BY JOSH BARBER
Senior quarterback Nick Robinson threw for 209 yards and two touchdown passes,as the Lions knocked off Mater Dei, 17-10, Friday at Santa Ana Stadium.
“This is the best win in my JSerra career,” said Robinson, a three-year starter. “We finally knocked off Mater Dei, a great school with tradition.”
The Lions (7-1 overall, 2-1 in league) officially cemented their current standing as a bona fide league power with a historic triumph as they earned their first ever win over Mater Dei (6-2, 1-2).
Since 2006, Mater Dei had accumulated a perfect 8-0 record against the Lions, winning by an average margin of 34 points.
“Overall, this was a great victory for the school,” Lions coach Jim Hartigan said. “This week, we talked about what we had to do to get better and we did those things.”
JSerra’s victory not only put an end to that string of domination, but moved the Lions to the doorstep of their first ever Pac-5 playoff berth.
Mater Dei’s Andres Udria avoids a tackle by JSerra’s Riley O’Brien on his way to a 30-yard touchdown during the second quarter of a Trinity League game at Santa Ana Stadium on Friday, Oct. 24. PHOTO BY JOSH BARBER.
With league games against Orange Lutheran (0-3) and Servite (1-2) remaining on their regular season schedule, a Lions’ victory in one of those two contests would clinch a playoff spot.
But Robinson knows there is still work to be done before the playoffs become a reality.
“Every game is going to be a fight because all the teams in the Trinity League are great,” Robinson said.
Friday’s meeting marked the first time that both teams entered their annual battle considered among the best in California.
Mater Dei entered ranked No. 3 in the Cal-Hi Sports state rankings, No. 2 in the CIF Pac-5 Division, and No. 2 in the OC Sidelines Top 20.
JSerra was ranked ninth, fifth and third, respectively. .
After forcing Mater Dei to punt on the game’s first series, the Lions’ first offensive snap of the game yielded a huge play.
Starting at his own 3-yard line, Robinson dropped back and fired a perfect pass to receiver Isaiah Diego-Williams, who outraced the Monarchs defense to the end zone to complete a 97-yard touchdown reception and give JSerra a 7-0 lead.
JSerra’s Sam Philippi catches a pass during a 49-yard touchdown play during the third quarter of a Trinity League game against Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium on Friday, Oct. 24. PHOTO BY JOSH BARBER.
“Nick came up with a big throw,” Hartigan said.
Despite the big play, Mater Dei possessed the ball for all but 13 seconds of the first quarter and outgained the Lions in total yardage for the half 179-125.
The Monarchs tied the game with just under seven minutes left in the first half, as senior wide receiver Andres Udria took a pass from senior quarterback Jack Lowary and weaved his way into the end zone to complete a 30-yard touchdown reception.
Mater Dei had one final chance to take the lead late in the half, but Diego-Williams intercepted Lowary at the Lions’ 22-yard line with 1:16 remaining before the intermission.
An interception by Monarchs’ defensive back Jalen Cole on Robinson’s first pass of the second half set up a 28-yard field goal by Elias Deeb that gave Mater Dei its first and only lead of the night at 10-7.
Robinson and senior wide receiver Sam Philippi answered later in the period. One play after connecting on an 18-yard pass play to the Monarchs 49-yard line, Robinson fired a strike over the middle to Philippi, who made a leaping two-handed catch, broke a tackle, and raced into the end zone to give JSerra a 14-10 lead.
Philippi finished with 8 receptions for 112 yards.
The Lions embarked on a 14-play, 52-yard march that burned nearly seven minutes off the clock and bridged the third and fourth quarters. The drive resulted in a 39-yard field goal by junior Ethan Worden to give JSerra a 17-10 advantage.
Mater Dei drove to the Lions’ 32-yard line with under five minutes remaining, but JSerra’s defense held on fourth down to force a turnover.
The Monarchs’ defense forced JSerra into a fourth and 2 snap from its own 40-yard line with under two minutes. The Lions, victimized by a fake punt in last week’s narrow defeat to St. John Bosco, showed they could do the same thing.
Senior Aaron Matthews took a direct snap from center and rumbled five yards for the game-clinching first down.
“We saw that there was an overload to the left, so we called a quick run to the right,” Matthews said. “This is a great feeling because Mater Dei is a good team and we needed to win to make sure we had a chance to go to the playoffs in a couple weeks.”
Hartigan also pointed to the fake punt as the game-sealing turning point.
“We got the look that we wanted and thought we could get the first down,” Hartigan said. “It was a great way to finish.”
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JSerra’s Isaiah Diego-Williams makes a go-ahead catch touchdown catch during the first quarter of a Trinity League game against Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium on Friday, Oct. 24. PHOTO BY JOSH BARBER.
