Division 1 Championship Preview: Mater Dei vs. Servite

Two of the top 10 teams in the country will play for the most coveted Division Championship in sports on Friday. Trinity League rivals Mater Dei (Santa Ana) and Servite (Anaheim) will play again for the CIF-Southern Section championship. Mater Dei won the first game between the two 46-37. Mater Dei is 10-0 and No. 1 in MaxPreps’ national rankings. Servite is 10-2 and No. 4 in the Maxpreps rankings. This is the first time ever that the two schools are playing for a CIF championship. The hype of the game has been marred by a <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2021/11/23/mater-dei-locker-room-ritual-left-bloodied-football-player-with-brain-injury-broken-nose/">hazing scandal at Mater Dei</a> that has drawn a lot of media attention. https://twitter.com/prepzone/status/1464036431119073281?s=20 In the first matchup between these two teams, Mater Dei quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="147708" first="Elijah" last="Brown"] was spectacular as he has been during big games. [player_tooltip player_id="25224" first="CJ" last="Williams"] caught eight passes for 135 yards and a touchdown. Mater Dei won the game running the ball however. [player_tooltip player_id="25225" first="Raleek" last="Brown"] had 162 yards and a touchdown and [player_tooltip player_id="115462" first="Ajon" last="Bryant"] averaged 9 yards per carry. The Monarchs won the line of scrimmage war with sophomore left tackle [player_tooltip player_id="147719" first="DeAndre" last="Carter"], center [player_tooltip player_id="25453" first="BJ" last="Tolo"] and left guard [player_tooltip player_id="147730" first="Brandon" last="Baker"]. Servite plays a lot of linemen two ways and they get tired as the game goes on. https://twitter.com/SteveFryer/status/1462918045593063425?s=20 Servite defensive tackle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="187288" first="Max" last="Silao"]</strong> is back after recovering from a car accident. His presence may allow Servite defensive linemen like [player_tooltip player_id="141891" first="Mason" last="Graham"] and [player_tooltip player_id="145257" first="Vaka" last="Hansen"] to get a breather. [player_tooltip player_id="25227" first="Tetairoa" last="McMillan"] was a workhorse in the first game with 167 yards on 15 catches with two touchdowns. Servite mixed up its strategy last week in a semifinal win against St. John Bosco and used the running game to win. [player_tooltip player_id="187307" first="Houston" last="Thomas"] was excellent and broke a 70-yard touchdown run. Quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="25286" first="Noah" last="Fifita"] ran for multiple touchdowns and only passed for 100 yards. Unfortunately for Servite, Mater Dei’s front seven on defense is loaded with names like: [player_tooltip player_id="141893" first="Jacob" last="Kongaika"], [player_tooltip player_id="25282" first="Malaki" last="Te’o"], [player_tooltip player_id="25234" first="David" last="Bailey"], [player_tooltip player_id="25447" first="Levi" last="Sua"], [player_tooltip player_id="142003" first="Sione" last="Moa"] and [player_tooltip player_id="25279" first="Eoghan" last="Kerry"]. Nobody has been able to run the ball on the Monarchs this season. [player_tooltip player_id="25274" first="Cam" last="Sidney"] did a nice job containing McMillan in the first game with some help from safety [player_tooltip player_id="25264" first="Josh" last="Hunter"]. I expect McMillan to get another heavy workload in the championship game and for Mater Dei to bracket him with those two guys. https://twitter.com/FootballRecruit/status/1449066820892119045?s=20 If Mater Dei can run the ball the way they did in the first game again, they will win. [player_tooltip player_id="25281" first="Quincy" last="Craig"] is a guy to keep an eye on who can make plays in all phases of the game. [player_tooltip player_id="25278" first="Cooper" last="Barkate"] only had one catch in the first game but will be more involved on Friday. Matchups like this make Southern California football the best football in the nation. Te game is on Bally Sports West if you can’t attend live and I highly recommend choosing this as your Friday night entertainment.