Sixteen years after its last tussle on the football field with De La Salle-Concord, Mater Dei-Santa Ana is sending in big brother to finish off the fight.
The Monarchs (14-0), blessed with perhaps the best quarterback, offensive line and core of receivers of any high school in the country, look primed to end a four-game losing streak to the Spartans (11-1) that began in 1998 when they meet in Saturday’s CIF Open Division bowl title game at Sacramento State.
If it does so, Mater Dei, No. 1 in every national ranking, would win its first CIF state championship and third mythical national crown.
Fiery and straight-shooting head coach Bruce Rollinson, with 286 wins over 29 seasons at the Orange County juggernaut, said his squad is focused on the last two accomplishments more than exacting payback on a bunch of Spartans who were barely born when the programs last met.
That said, Rollinson vividly recalls the string of losses, which included two at the University of the Pacific by combined scores of 76-6.
“Let’s cut the BS, I had some good teams, (De La Salle) enforced their will and kicked our ass. ... twice,” Rollinson said. “We had our opportunities. We played them four times and we didn’t get it done even once. That resonated with a lot of people then, like, ‘C’mon this is Mater Dei. This isn’t supposed to happen to us.’”
But it did. And shortly after that, it happened to Southern California’s other king, Long Beach Poly. Not once, but twice, by a combined score of 57-15.
Mater Dei, which won two mythical national titles in the ’90s (before the advent of the state championships), and Poly, which has sent more players to the NFL than any high school in the country (56), were six notches in De La Salle’s national-record 151-game win streak.
The wins answered once and for all that the Spartans could play with the Southern California elite, and also seemed to remove Mater Dei from the ranks of Southern California’s powerhouses. Centennial-Corona, St. John Bosco-Bellflower and Mission Viejo passed Mater Dei.
In fact, the Monarchs’ 49-24 win over defending state Open champion and national No. 5 Bosco on Dec. 2 was Mater Dei’s first section title since 1999. This season is the first time the Monarchs have been a part of the CIF bowl playoffs, which began in 2006.
Though humbling, Rollinson, 69, said the losses to De La Salle didn’t deflate the program. It was more about progress.
“First off, we had good years” after the De La Salle series, Rollinson said. “We got to the (Southern Section) finals twice and the semifinals a bunch of other times. But we hit rock bottom in 2011 when we didn’t even make the playoffs. I blew the entire program up.”
It worked. There are 19 juniors and seniors considered FBS Division I recruits, headed by 6-foot-2, 210-pound junior quarterback JT Daniels, who has thrown for 3,890 yards, with 49 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He’s committed to USC.
He’s protected by an offensive that that has four future college players, led by Alabama-bound Tommy Brown (6-7, 323) and Boise State-bound center Kekaniokoa Gonzalez (6-2, 295). Amon-Ra St. Brown (64 catches, 1,183 yards, 20 TDs) is the top-rated wide receiver in the country, but Daniels has three other college-bound targets in Nikko Remigio (Cal), Chris Parks (UCLA) and Bru McCoy, the fourth-best junior recruit overall in California. The running game, led by Glenn Harper (949 yards, 14 TDs), has racked up 2,295 yards and 33 TDs.
“There’s little margin for error,” De La Salle coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “We know that. They’re loaded everywhere and (Rollinson) does a great job. We have to control the ball, do what we do and not make mistakes. Other than that, it’s a piece of cake.”
MaxPreps senior writer Mitch Stephens covers high school sports for The San Francisco Chronicle.
State championships schedule
Open Division
Mater Dei-Santa Ana (14-0) vs. De La Salle-Concord (11-1) at Sacramento State, 8 p.m. Saturday
Division 1-AA
Folsom (15-0) vs. Helix-La Mesa (13-1) at Sacramento State, 8 p.m. Friday
Division 1-A
Pittsburg (9-2) vs. Narbonne-Harbor City (11-3) at Sacramento State, 4 p.m. Saturday
Division 2-AA
Serra (12-2) vs. Cajon-San Bernardino (14-1) at Sacramento State, 4 p.m. Friday
Division 2-A
St. Francis (10-4) vs. Grace Brethren-Simi Valley (13-2) at Sacramento State, noon Saturday
Division 3-AA
Shasta-Redding (12-1) vs. Bishop Diego-Santa Barbara (14-1) at Cal Lutheran, 6 p.m. Saturday
Division 3-A
Half Moon Bay (14-0) at Steele Canyon-Spring Valley (11-4), 6 p.m. Saturday
Division 4-AA
Placer-Auburn (13-1) at Crenshaw-Los Angeles (11-3), 6 p.m. Saturday
Division 4-A
Milpitas (13-1) at Southwest-El Centro (14-0), 6 p.m. Saturday
Division 5-AA
McClymonds-Oakland (13-0) vs. Golden West-Visalia (12-2) at Visalia Community Stadium, 6 p.m. Saturday
Division 5-A
Fortuna (13-2) vs. Katella-Anaheim (14-1) at Glover Stadium-Anaheim, 6 p.m. Saturday
Division 6-AA
Strathmore (15-0) vs. Orange (13-2) at El Modena HS, 6 p.m. Saturday
Division 6-A
Galileo (10-2) vs. Vincent Memorial-Calexico (12-2) at Calexico HS, 6 p.m. Saturday
De La Salle rules
1998: DLS, 28-21. In Anaheim, Vince Padilla’s 10-yard run with 10:38 to go breaks a 21-21 tie.
1999: DLS, 42-0. At Pacific, sophmore QB Matt Gutierrez throws for six touchdowns.
2000: DLS, 31-28. In Anaheim, Spartans survive big game from Matt Leinart (401 yards passing)
2001: DLS, 34-6. At Pacific, Alijah Bradley runs for 206 yards; Spartans hold Mater Dei to 162 yards.