Mater Dei flexed its muscle in the second half and ran past Jordan on their way to 21 points in the third quarter and a 35-15 win in the CIFSS Playoffs first round on Friday night at Santa Ana Stadium.  Monarch quarterback Matt Barkley didn’t have his normal standout performance (6-for-14, 140 yds, 1TD)  but that’s just because running back Jaron Hytche was busy racking up 154 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries, most of which came in the lopsided second half.

For Jordan, the loss marked the end to an extremely successful season that saw Scott Meyers’ Panthers enter the playoffs for the first time.  “You seniors got us a taste,” Meyer told his team after the game.  “You got us here, and we’re just going to keep getting better… We’ll be back again, I’m sure of it.”

John Timu finished with 153 yards passing and 105 yards rushing for Jordan, but the talented junior was under duress for almost the entire first half.  Mater Dei confused the Panther front line by showing only two down lineman at times and bringing six or more after the snap. 

The story of the first half was the missed opportunities by both teams.

After a Timu interception that Christian Maldonado brought back to the Jordan 13, it looked like Mater Dei had scored first when Hytche high stepped into the end zone, but a holding penalty brought it back.  On the next play, Barkley dropped back to pass and was blindsided by Taniela Maka.  The ball was knocked loose, and linebacker Reno Fuiamono picked it up and took the fumble all the way down to the Monarch 16 yard line.

However, two inside runs and an incomplete pass led to a field goal attempt that Timu missed just wide.  Mater Dei turned around and went 80 yards on 11 plays for the games first score on the ensuing drive.  Hytche took it in from three yards out a few plays after Jordan was called for “roughing the snapper” on a punt attempt. 

Jordan got the ball back, and went on a classic Jordan drive, eating up eight minutes with 17 plays and 86 yards.  But, penalties and a failed fake field goal left the Panthers scoreless in the first half.

With the score 7-0 Monarchs at the break, Jordan felt great while Mater Dei made some adjustments.  On the second half first possession, Barkley and offense decided to attack the outside of the Panther defense, something they hadn’t been able to do in the first half.

“I told them at halftime that the offense was going to have to help the defense out,” said Mater Dei head coach Bruce Rollinson, who in his 20th year, picked up his 200th career victory on Friday night.  “That was Matt (Barkley) calling the plays out there in the second half… it was about 85 to 90 percent his play calls.  He would just audible the run outside.”

Hytche continued to pound the ball, but most of Barkley’s audibles were for running backs Dylan Price and Jordan Allen.  With a nice mix of screens, slants, and pitch plays, Price rushed it five times for 82 yards and Allan collected 94 all-purpose yards.  Those 176 yards all came in the second half, and brought with them two touchdowns.

“They out physicaled us in the second half,” said Meyer.  “That was all weight room right there.”  With his program’s best days still ahead, Meyer was very clear with his returning players after the game as to where they need to improve if they want to continue this ascension.  “See you guys in the weight room on Monday.”