No Surprise: Monarchs Win Big

SANTA ANA —  There weren’t a lot of surprises during Mater Dei’s 49-6 nonleague victory over Santa Ana at Santa Ana Stadium Thursday night.

Mater Dei went nuts, Santa Ana didn’t. Michael Graham put on a running clinic, and by the second half, most of the Monarchs’ starters joined the cheerleaders on the sidelines.

“We needed this,” said wide receiver/defensive back Michael-John Rzeznik, who scored on touchdown catches of 20 and 22 yards and had an interception for seventh-ranked Mater Dei (2-1). “We wanted to use this game to rebuild, to re-establish ourselves.”

Plenty of players, still smarting from last week’s loss to Esperanza, used the opportunity to do just that.

The Monarchs opened the game throwing, but once they realized the Saints (0-3) were ill-equipped to stop sophomore running back Graham, Mater Dei gave him the ball and set the tone for the rest of the game.

Graham was a machine, bulldozing his way past defender after defender en route to 201 first-half yards in 12 carries, including scoring romps of 50, eight, and 41 yards. Jason Lundstrom (nine carries, 73 yards) and Gabriel Solis (five carries, 41 yards, one touchdown) were able fill in for Graham after two quarters.

Monarch quarterback John Flynn threw his first touchdown passes of the season.

Santa Ana quarterback Mark Fausto completed a 68-yard pass play to Carlos Rodriguez in the second quarter to avoid the shutout.