Ben Seymour of Valencia was on last year’s All-State Underclass team and is continuing to make plays each week as a defensive end. Photo: @VHSVikingsFball/Twitter.com.
As Mater Dei and St. John Bosco head into the CIFSS D1 final in their expected 1-2 positions, De La Salle is now sitting at No. 3. How to handle what Oaks Christian did to previously unbeaten and previous No. 7 Upland also was another tough call this week. Two new teams, meanwhile, moving into this first post of the Top 50 are Helix of La Mesa and Valencia.
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(Last week’s ranking in parentheses)
(After games of Saturday, Nov. 18)
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 13-0
Well, it took a year and a lot of hard work but the Monarchs are back where they were a year ago after an impressive win in the CIF Southern Section Division I semifinals sets up another rematch game with league rival St. John Bosco in this Saturday’s championship game. Head coach Bruce Rollinson’s bunch, which is looking to win the school’s first CIFSS crown since 1999, raced to a 35-7 lead at halftime in last Friday’s 49-21 win over previous No. 4 Mission Viejo. Junior QB JT Daniels scored on a 52-yard run in the second quarter and passed for 199 yards on 10 of 18 completions. Mase Funa got the defense going with a 30-yard interception return on the fourth play of the game. That defense also held Mission Viejo’s Akili Arnold to just 29 yards rushing on 13 carries. He had more than 300 the week before. Last year, the Monarchs beat St. John Bosco in the regular season, then lost 42-28 in the CIFSS final. This year, they beat the Braves 31-21 in the regular season.
