In a game full of players with many recruiting stars, Bryce Young shined the brightest when it counted most.
Photo by Louis Lopez
Bryce Young on way to game-winning TD.
The junior five-star quarterback from Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) finished off a nearly perfect 9 play, 75-yard drive by scampering for a 5-yard touchdown run with 1 minute, 9 seconds remaining, giving the Monarchs a hearty 28-24 victory Friday over IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) before more than 10,000 fans jammed into the Santa Ana Bowl.
Young went 6-for-6 passing on the game-winning drive, before faking an inside handoff, sprinting left and diving into the end zone. After the second-ranked Monarchs (4-1) held on downs, they celebrated the 3-hour and 20-minute game in raucous fashion. They snapped IMG's 40-game win streak a year after breaking a 55-game win streak by Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) on the very same field.
Mater Dei won't just be known this season as defending national champions but streak-busters as well.
The Monarchs, particularly coach Bruce Rollinson, enjoyed this one a lot. Not only because his staff called two very timely trick plays for touchdowns, but his team played a team equal or superior in talent. That hasn't happened for a while. They had to rally from behind for the first time since 2016.
They did it against a team with 26 players with FBS offers, including the extremely talented running back combo of Trey Sanders (13 carries, 181 yards) and Noah Cain (21, 130). Each scored a touchdown. But IMG couldn't overcome 14 penalties and they couldn't quite rattle Young, an elusive 6-foot-1, 180-pound Young, who completed 21 of 30 for 303 yards and two scores.
"That was high school football at its best," Rollinson told Fox Sports West. "We had to pull a couple plays out that we haven't used since the summer. It was a total team effort."
IMG (3-1) rode its talented running back tandem down field to take a 24-21 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Aidan Swanson with 3:36 remaining. But Young zoomed the Monarchs right back, hitting four different receivers with pinpoint short and intermediate passes.
"The kid just makes plays," Rollinson said. "He never gets too high or too low. He was great on that final drive, but so was the line, the receivers, everyone. That was a total team effort."
The game featured close to 50 players with FBS offers between their junior and senior classes. But when the game counted most, Young calmly made every correct read, throw and finally run after a great play fake.
"I knew when (Swanson) hit the field goal, we'd put a drive together," Young told the Fox Sports West television audience. "We practice that and work on our drills. I have faith in my guys."
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Photo by Louis Lopez
Bryce Young on way to game-winning TD.
The junior five-star quarterback from Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) finished off a nearly perfect 9 play, 75-yard drive by scampering for a 5-yard touchdown run with 1 minute, 9 seconds remaining, giving the Monarchs a hearty 28-24 victory Friday over IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) before more than 10,000 fans jammed into the Santa Ana Bowl.
Young went 6-for-6 passing on the game-winning drive, before faking an inside handoff, sprinting left and diving into the end zone. After the second-ranked Monarchs (4-1) held on downs, they celebrated the 3-hour and 20-minute game in raucous fashion. They snapped IMG's 40-game win streak a year after breaking a 55-game win streak by Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) on the very same field.
Mater Dei won't just be known this season as defending national champions but streak-busters as well.
The Monarchs, particularly coach Bruce Rollinson, enjoyed this one a lot. Not only because his staff called two very timely trick plays for touchdowns, but his team played a team equal or superior in talent. That hasn't happened for a while. They had to rally from behind for the first time since 2016.
They did it against a team with 26 players with FBS offers, including the extremely talented running back combo of Trey Sanders (13 carries, 181 yards) and Noah Cain (21, 130). Each scored a touchdown. But IMG couldn't overcome 14 penalties and they couldn't quite rattle Young, an elusive 6-foot-1, 180-pound Young, who completed 21 of 30 for 303 yards and two scores.
"That was high school football at its best," Rollinson told Fox Sports West. "We had to pull a couple plays out that we haven't used since the summer. It was a total team effort."
IMG (3-1) rode its talented running back tandem down field to take a 24-21 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Aidan Swanson with 3:36 remaining. But Young zoomed the Monarchs right back, hitting four different receivers with pinpoint short and intermediate passes.
"The kid just makes plays," Rollinson said. "He never gets too high or too low. He was great on that final drive, but so was the line, the receivers, everyone. That was a total team effort."
The game featured close to 50 players with FBS offers between their junior and senior classes. But when the game counted most, Young calmly made every correct read, throw and finally run after a great play fake.
"I knew when (Swanson) hit the field goal, we'd put a drive together," Young told the Fox Sports West television audience. "We practice that and work on our drills. I have faith in my guys."
Full Story
