Tag: Servite

California High School Football: Friday night’s 5 biggest matchups

Here are five of the biggest matchups for Friday night in the Golden State.

It’s a big week for high school football in Southern California, where many of the nation’s best schools play, including Mater Dei and St. John Bosco, which are the first and second-ranked teams in the country going into the 2022 season.

Here are five of the biggest matchups for Friday night.

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Four-star WR Tetairoa McMillan spurns Oregon, signs with Arizona

Arizona pulled off one of the biggest recruiting flips in program history on Friday, flipping four-star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan.

Arizona pulled off one of the biggest recruiting flips in program history just before the end of the early signing period, flipping four-star Anaheim (Calif.) Servite wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan from Oregon.

Oregon was hoping that McMillan would wait until February to sign so it could get him on campus with new head coach Dan Lanning. However, McMillan felt comfortable signing with Arizona given his relationship with head coach Jedd Fisch and the rest of the coaching staff.

McMillan’s Servite teammates also played a role in his decision to flip. Servite quarterback Noah Fifita is an Arizona signee and has been McMillan’s teammate since Pop Warner. McMillan will also be reunited with Servite teammates Keyan Burnett and Jacob Manu — two more Pop Warner teammates — in Tuscon.

Arizona almost landed McMillan before he committed to Oregon while Mario Cristobal was still the head coach. McMillan enjoyed his June official visit to Arizona and there was a brief time where the Wildcats were thought to be the favorites to land him.

Now, he’s officially on board.

“Everybody wants to be on a winning team but the ultimate goal is to get to the NFL and I’m very confident that Arizona can get me there,” McMillan told 247Sports. “Coach Fisch has been a part of professional organizations and the connections through Arizona are unbelievable.

“I definitely feel that Arizona can get me to the next level and I also think they can win games moving forward with how they’re recruiting. I’ve always had a high interest in them and I think I can achieve all my goals being a Wildcat.”

McMillan had a monster senior season for Servite — the No. 7 team in the USA TODAY Super 25 — catching 88 passes for 1,302 yards and 18 touchdowns to go along with 35 tackles and eight interceptions on defense. He was recently named the Polynesian Player of the year and the California Gatorade State Player of the Year.

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USA TODAY Super 25 Week 14 Recap: Mater Dei downs Servite for Southern Section title

USA TODAY High School Sports takes a look at how each team ranked in the Super 25 fared in Week 14.

No. 1 Mater Dei’s high-flying passing attack took a back seat to its ground game against No. 5 Servite on Friday night, relying on its running backs to lead it to a 27-7 win and a CIF Southern Section title.

Raleek Brown, Ajon Bryant and Quincy Craig each rushed for a touchdown as Mater Dei took care of Servite to win its third Southern Section championship since 2017. Mater Dei will now play in the CIF Open Division championship game on Dec. 11.

Mater Dei wasn’t the only program ranked in the USA TODAY Super 25 to score a big win over the weekend. No. 4 Bergen Catholic won a state championship with a victory over rival Don Bosco Prep, No. 7 Center Grove edged a tough Westfield team to keep its season alive and Miami Central knocked off undefeated Killian.

With all of that being said, let’s take a look at how each team ranked in the Super 25 fared over the weekend.

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No. 1 Mater Dei handles No. 5 Servite in Southern Section title game

No. 1 Mater Dei beat No. 5 Servite on Friday night to win its third Southern Section title since 2017.

No. 1 Mater Dei’s high-flying passing attack took a back seat to its ground game against No. 5 Servite on Friday night, with the Monarchs relying on their running backs to help bring home a Southern Section championship.

Raleek Brown, Ajon Bryant and Quincy Craig each rushed for a touchdown as Mater Dei took care of Servite by a final score of 27-7 to claim its third Southern Section crown since 2017 and its second win over Servite this season. Mater Dei will now play in the CIF Open Division championship game on Dec. 11 against a yet to be determined opponent.

The rematch between Mater Dei and Servite did not resemble the high-scoring regular season meeting in which the Monarchs held on for a 46-37 win. Mater Dei turned to a ground and pound style of play, with Craig rushing for four touchdowns and Brown, an Oklahoma commit rushing for 163 yards and a score.

Star sophomore quarterback Elijah Brown pitched in 247 yards through the air for Mater Dei, helping to mitigate a monster game by Servite’s quarterback-wide receiver duo of Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan. Fifita threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns — both of which went to McMillan, who caught 15 passes for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the first meeting between the two teams.

Elijah Brown threw an interception on the first play of the game and Servite took advantage of the score to take an early 7-0 lead. The Friars would not find paydirt again, though, as Mater Dei’s defense took over and its offense made more than enough plays to put its Trinity League rival away. Servite had a chance to tie things up at 14 in the second quarter, but Craig came up big on defense by forcing a fumble to protect Mater Dei’s lead heading into halftime.

Mater Dei gave itself some breathing late in the third quarter with a short Raleek Brown rushing touchdown and sealed the game with an Elijah Brown touchdown pass to Notre Dame commit C.J. Williams with two minutes remaining.

Mater Dei entered Friday night’s title bout facing controversy after reports of an alleged hazing incident surfaced during the week, making national headlines. The news took much of the focus away from the championship game, but Mater Dei was able to lock back in against one of the best teams in the nation to keep its season alive and add some hardware to its trophy case.

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No. 7 Servite beats No. 4 St. John Bosco for first time in 10 years

No. 7 Servite knocked No. 4 St. John Bosco out of the semifinals, setting up a rematch against Mater Dei for the championship.

In the regular season, Servite (Anaheim, Calif.) was putting together a perfect year. Win after win, blowout after blowout, they took down opponents with a mission of getting to the top.

There were just two things standing in their way: the Trinity League juggernauts. After starting with eight wins in a row, the Friars fell to Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) and St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in consecutive weeks.

But that was the regular season. Now, we’re talking playoffs. On Friday night, Servite got vengeance over St. John Bosco in the CIF-SS semifinals, taking down the powerhouse 40-21 on the back of excellent defense and an unstoppable rushing performance led by quarterback Noah Fifita.

Fifita, a three-star Arizona commit, rushed 21 times for 139 yards and three touchdowns, according to the Bally broadcast. He ripped off a 55-yard run as well:

It was a sharp contrast to the rest of the season. Entering the game, Fifita had averaged 259 passing yards on 28 attempts per game, according to the Orange County Register. On Friday, he attempted just eight passes and did not throw one until there was only 3:10 left to play in the first half.

The rushing attack was a key part of the game. In addition to Fifita’s big runs, Houston Thomas rushed for a 71-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

Thomas came up big on both sides of the ball. He contributed on defense with a fourth-quarter interception that was key in sealing the game for Servite. Leading 27-21, the Friars had turned the ball over on downs, but Thomas got it right back. Ethan Scaffidi punched home a 23-yard rush to put Servite up by two possessions.

That was all the Friars needed, as the defense held strong and prevented St. John Bosco from scoring again.

It was Servite’s first victory over the Braves since October 2011.

This victory makes up for the loss to St. John Bosco earlier this season. With the win, Servite gets a championship date with the only other team to beat them: No. 1 Mater Dei.

“We wanted to get them again,” Houston said to the Orange County Register.

Well, that desire is preferable to the alternative, given as the Monarchs were widely expected to reach the championship game. They had a tough fight in the semifinal but came ahead of Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 21-16 to reach the title round.

In the first matchup between Servite and Mater Dei this season, Fifta had quite the opposite performance as his game Friday: He went 26-for-43 with 340 passing yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Tight end/wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan had 15 receptions.

Mater Dei won that first game 46-37, but that was the Monarchs’ closest margin of victory in the regular season and by far the most points an opponent scored against them.

Servite will have to do that again, only a little bit better.

It will decide the best football team in Southern California.

USA TODAY Super 25 Week 10 Recap: St. John Bosco fights off Servite, IMG Academy survives Auburn

USA TODAY High School Sports takes a look at how each team ranked in the Super 25 fared in Week 10.

The Trinity League’s latest high-profile matchup did not disappoint, as No. 4 St. John Bosco and No. 6 Servite went toe-to-toe in Bellflower over the weekend.

St. John Bosco ultimately got the best of Servite, knocking off the Friars by a final score of 24-10. Servite is now 0-2 against Mater Dei and St. John Bosco this season, although its two losses against the league powers came by a combined 23 points.

No. 2 IMG Academy survived a scare for the second time in three weeks, this one coming against Alabama powerhouse Auburn High School. Auburn led in the fourth quarter before IMG Academy running back and Penn State commit Kaytron Allen scored two touchdowns over the finals seven and a half minutes to keep the Ascenders undefeated.

No. 7 Collins Hill had arguably the best win of the weekend, stamping itself as the top team in Georgia with a dominant 40-10 win over previously undefeated Mill Creek. Mill Creek was knocking on the door of entering the USA TODAY Super 25 with a win on Friday night, but Collins Hill turned it away with authority.

Let’s take a look at how each team ranked in the Super 25 fared over the weekend.

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No. 1 Mater Dei outlasts No. 7 Servite in thriller featuring 83 points

Servite gave Mater Dei a greater challenge than any other team this season, but the No. 1 program in the country came out on top.

No. 7 Servite delivered No. 1 Mater Dei its toughest challenge all season. In the end, the top-ranked team in the country showed why it is, in fact, the top team in the country.

The Monarchs broke a tie late in the third quarter and held on for a 46-37 victory over the Friars. Mater Dei three-star running back Quincy Craig scored four touchdowns and five-star running back Raleek Brown had a season-best 162 rushing yards.

After beating St. John Bosco at the beginning of the month, Mater Dei had one more major test on the docket to prove they were the best team in the Trinity League. With just one more regular-season game, a home match against 3-6 JSerra Catholic, the Monarchs are in position to clinch the No. 1 seed in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs if they can get one more win.

From there, they’d likely have to beat Servite or St. John Bosco one more time to win the crown.

If Servite walks away regretting how close they were to winning this game, they’ll need the memory of a goldfish for next week. The Friars will take on St. John Bosco for a game that will likely decide the second seed and almost certainly dub one of the two the second-best team in California.

But they shouldn’t hang their head after the Monarchs win. Servite had plenty of positives, including quarterback Noah Fifita’s 306 passing yards and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan’s 15 receptions for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The two connected for a touchdown that tied the game at 31 with about two minutes left in the third quarter.

Mater Dei pulled back ahead before the frame came to an end. With a third-and-seven from the 42-yard line, Elijah Brown and Cooper Barkate connected on a deep pass that got the Monarchs all the way to up the 15-yard line. Craig scored on a five-yard rushing score before the quarter came to a close.

The Monarchs then went for the two-point conversion. Holder Ryan Didodo broke his wrist on the play, yet still completed the conversion on a pass to linebacker Malaki Te’o.

Servite scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter but failed to convert a two-point conversion, and then Raleek Brown punched home a 22-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

Mater Dei defensive end David Bailey had 3.5 sacks, including this big one on a late Servite drive.

Even in a game in which 83 points were scored, Mater Dei’s defense came up when needed on the two-point conversion prevention, Bailey’s sacks and an interception from Zabien Brown with just over a minute left in the game.

Servite held strong and competed against the Monarchs better than any other team had done this season.

To prove it’s the second-best team in California, it will have to do so against St. John Bosco next week, a challenge that will not be any easier than this weekend.