Servite vs. Mater Dei: Top Defensive Performers

<strong>SERVITE</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="143131" first="Jacob" last="Manu"]: Mater Dei did a good job of trying to avoid Manu in the running game but Servite sent Manu on interior blitzes and he made some big plays. He had a sack in the first quarter that was one of the hardest hits on a quarterback I have seen this season. Manu is one of the best tacklers in Orange County and he stood out when watching Servite’s defense from the sideline on Saturday. https://twitter.com/ServiteFootball/status/1452115961297866755?s=20 https://twitter.com/ServiteFootball/status/1452117242166984709?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="115420" first="Emmett" last="Mosley"]: Servite did what people expected them to do with a finally healthy Mosley, put him at corner and move [player_tooltip player_id="25227" first="Tetairoa" last="McMillan"] to safety to help in coverage with two high safeties. Mosley held his own against the Mater Dei receivers even though he was sometimes physically overmatched by [player_tooltip player_id="25224" first="CJ" last="Williams"]. Mosley is a sophomore who hasn’t played in a long time so it’s not shameful to get beat by a Notre Dame commit senior. [player_tooltip player_id="115437" first="Gage" last="Burnett"]: The sophomore edge rusher has really come into his own this season. He had a sack against JSerra last week and did it again Saturday against Mater Dei. Servite needed blitzers to get pressure on the Mater Dei quarterback and Burnett did a fine job as that edge rusher. <strong>Michael Hurst</strong>: Hurst is a very underrated player in Servite’s defense. He largely shut down Mater Dei receiver [player_tooltip player_id="25278" first="Cooper" last="Barkate"] except for one play and patrolled the right side of the field. He did well against Williams and made tackles quickly when Mater Dei ran underneath routes. He is under-recruited and should be getting FCS offers. [player_tooltip player_id="141891" first="Mason" last="Graham"]: Graham was the only Servite defensive lineman who could get into the backfield without the assist of a blitzer. The Michigan commit played both ways the entire game and was fantastic. He got praise from Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson after the game. He went toe-to-toe with elite offensive linemen from Mater Dei and did great despite playing both ways. https://twitter.com/EJHolland_TW/status/1452433618375266315?s=20 https://twitter.com/ServiteFootball/status/1452155025921220621?s=20 https://twitter.com/latsondheimer/status/1452146074357944325?s=20 <strong>MATER DEI</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="25274" first="Cam" last="Sidney"]: With [player_tooltip player_id="25223" first="Domani" last="Jackson"] out with a leg injury, everyone wondered how Mater Dei would cover [player_tooltip player_id="25227" first="Tetairoa" last="McMillan"]. Despite a big stat game for McMillan, Sidney did a good job covering him in man coverage. Mater Dei played a lot of cover 1 and Sidney covered TMac the entire game with the occasional help from [player_tooltip player_id="25264" first="Josh" last="Hunter"] as a safety. He didn’t get beat on deep balls and only allowed one real touchdown to the Oregon commit. “Going against him is obviously a great challenge and I stayed on him as best as I could and stayed aggressive,” Sidney said. “Josh and I have great chemistry. We have played together since seventh grade.” https://twitter.com/ocvarsity/status/1452196391380525061?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="25234" first="David" last="Bailey"]: Bailey was in the backfield constantly for the Mater Dei defense. The uncommitted senior had 3.5 sacks for the Monarchs and impressed college coaches at the game like David Shaw (Stanford) and Steve Sarkisian (Texas). Servite tried to mix up its pass protection scheme to account for Bailey and it did not matter. He got even more aggressive when Servite would bring a tight end in for protection. "I was taking advantage of a weaker guy honestly," Bailey said about going against Servite’s tight ends instead of tackles. https://twitter.com/latsondheimer/status/1452152215414587392?s=20 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25282" first="Malaki" last="Te’o"]: </strong>Te’o was constantly in the backfield for Mater Dei’s front seven as well. He lines up all over the field and even made a catch on a two-point conversion which sealed the game for the Monarchs. He is a great tackler and is fast for a linebacker running 10 yards at a time. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25447" first="Levi" last="Sua"]:</strong> After the game I was talking to Mater Dei defensive players and gushing over the pass rush and multiple players told me the key that runs the engine of the Mater Dei defense is middle linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="25447" first="Levi" last="Sua"]. He was key for Mater Dei in stopping Servite running back [player_tooltip player_id="187307" first="Houston" last="Thomas"]. He is one of the best tacklers in Southern California and Rollinson raves about him. https://twitter.com/Scott_Schrader/status/1431440306277437440?s=20 [player_tooltip player_id="141893" first="Jacob" last="Kongaika"]: The reason the edge rushers did so well and the linebackers cleaned up in the running game was because Mater Dei’s interior defensive linemen like Kongaika ate up double teams and held their ground in the run game. He’s bigger in person than I remembered him being in the spring and he made it tough for Servite’s offensive linemen to get to the next level. [player_tooltip player_id="25264" first="Josh" last="Hunter"]: Hunter had double-digit tackles for Mater Dei and even had a sack on a safety blitz. He did a very good job as a cover 1 safety defending deep balls despite his size disadvantage. When Servite would through underneath routes to <strong>Mikey Welsh</strong> and <strong>Wes Taylor</strong>, Hunter was there quickly to prevent a big play.