When sophomore tight end Tyler Fritz momentarily bobbled a pass on a two-point conversion attempt with 7.5 seconds left on Friday night at Santa Ana Stadium, Mater Dei players, coaches and fans collectively held their breath.
“I told him, ‘You’re trying to give me a heart attack,’” Monarchs coach Raul Lara said.
Fritz ended up catching the pass to complete a remarkable 36-35 comeback victory for Mater Dei over St. John Bosco, clinching second place in the Trinity League and a likely No. 3 seed in the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
“Super wild,” offensive tackle Lex Mailangi said.
“More than wild,” lineman Adam Foglesong countered.
St. John Bosco appeared to clinch victory when Maliq Allen scored on a four-yard touchdown run with 4:35 left for a 35-21 lead.
Who could image that a freshman quarterback, Paytyn Guess, would put together two drives that required less than two minutes to deliver victory?
First Guess connected with Gavin Honore for a 55-yard touchdown with 3:26 left. Then the Monarchs’ defense forced St. John Bosco to punt, giving Mater Dei the ball on its own 28-yard line with 55 seconds left.
Guess connected with fellow freshman Tristan Brown on a 49-yard pass play. With 13 seconds left and third down at the Braves’ 12, Guess threw the ball up toward the end zone and Brown, his best friend since the age of 6, caught it for a touchdown. He’s only 5 feet 8 but outjumped everyone.
“My bond with him gives me a good perspective of his character and effort,” Guess said.
Said Brown: “God just put it in my hands.”
Added Lara: “We’ve got a pretty talented freshman group. The quarterback is fantastic. He’s dynamic. And he’s just learning. And Tristan is awesome. They’ve been playing together for a long time. So they have chemistry. Hopefully they’ll continue to flourish.”
Mater Dei (8-2) then went for the win instead of the tie. Fritz started off on the right side, sprinted behind the line to the left and was wide open. He just needed to catch the pass for victory.
“I could have given him an easier pass,” Guess said. “Tyler made a great play.”
Said Fritz: “That was an awesome play-call. It was back of my shoulder. I was ready for the ball.”
St. John Bosco (7-3) had played one of its best halves of the season after being down 21-14 at halftime. Quarterback Koa Malau’ulu finished 24-of-35 passing for 357 yards and three touchdowns. Guess was 11- of-15 passing for 214 yards and three touchdowns. Brown caught four passes for 104 yards.
The first half saw Mater Dei take advantage of St. John Bosco mistakes. On the first play of the game, Malau’ulu lost the ball on a fumble. Guess soon scored on a 19-yard run. The Braves tied it on a Malau’ulu nine-yard run. Then Honore caught a 23-yard touchdown on a blown coverage for a 14-7 Mater Dei lead.
Allen went 64 yards for a touchdown to tie the score on a short pass. Then St. John Bosco picked up 15-yard penalty for sideline interference; a 15-yard penalty for taunting; a 15-yard penalty for face mask that nullifed a recovered fumble. Guess ended a nine-play drive — all runs — with a four-yard touchdown.
Lara told his players afterward: “If you stick together, no one can beat you.”
For the first time since 2015, neither St. John Bosco nor Mater Dei will be seeded No. 1 for the Division 1 playoffs when pairings are released on Sunday morning. What does that mean?
It says something about the meteoric rise of Santa Margarita (10-0) under second-year coach Carson Palmer, who has used his name, connections and ability to hire an elite group of assistant coaches to change the high school football scene in Southern California.
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