Mark Bowman (19) celebrates with teammate Marcus Harris after scoring Mater Dei’s first touchdown against San Mateo Serra in the CIF Open Division state championship bowl game Saturday at Saddleback College. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Knowing it was his last high school game, Mater Dei quarterback Elijah Brown used Saturday night’s CIF Open Division state championship bowl game as a final showcase of his immense talent. The Stanford commit threw touchdown passes to four receivers in leading the Monarchs to a 35-0 shutout of San Mateo Serra at Saddleback College.
It was Mater Dei’s fourth state bowl title since 2017 and it left no doubt which team is No. 1 in California this year.
A few hours after LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels was awarded the Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football, Brown put on a performance that would make Daniels — who starred at Cajon High in San Bernardino — proud. Brown completed 17 of his 22 passes for 298 yards and zero interceptions. He sat out the last five minutes, his job done.
The four-year starter has added to the legacy of All-CIF signal-callers in the Santa Ana catholic school’s storied history — a list that includes Heisman Trophy winners John Huarte, Matt Leinart and Bryce Young — and will graduate with maybe the best resume of them all having thrown for 9,277 yards and 115 touchdowns and emerging victorious in 42 of 44 games with two Southern Section titles and two state bowl titles.
“It means a lot but it was a total team effort,” Brown said. “All of the hard work over the last four years has been worth it. This is what we came here to do.”
The Monarchs, who improved to 4-0 in state bowl competition and captured their first under Frank McManus, hired in February to fill the shoes of the retired Bruce Rollinson, who stepped down last December…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mater-dei-proves-no-1-071928119.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2023-12-10 07:19:28
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