California high school football season came and went.
For the third time in four years, its final game saw Mater Dei dominate a NorCal opponent in the CIF Open Division state championship. And each time under a different head coach.
Mater Dei rolled past De La Salle 37-15 for a state crown on Saturday, going undefeated in its first year under Raul Lara.
MORE: How to watch Mater Dei vs. De La Salle in California Open Division football championship
Scroll down for recap and game updates in order from kickoff to postgame.
Recap:
The Monarchs were untouchable in the first, second, and fourth quarters, while De La Salle reciprocated the favor in the third quarter – enough to silence some doubters and make the game competitive until the final minutes.
Mater Dei QB and Washington commit Dash Beierly threw two touchdown passes to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and a third to Mark Bowman. Beierly completed 10 of 15 passes for 250 yards and two TDs in the first half alone to guide his team to a 23-0 halftime lead.
Then the tables turned for a bit. The Spartans got on the board when QB Toa Faavae finished a rejuvenating drive to open the second half by sneaking in a TD from about a foot away to cut the deficit to 23-7. After De La Salle’s defense forced a punt, its offense had a repeat performance, and Faavae uncorked a 41-yard touchdown run followed by a two-point conversion on a handoff to Derrick Blanche Jr.
All of a sudden, it was 23-15 – a one-score game – going into the fourth. And it was stark contrast from the first half, when De La Salle only mustered 22 yards on 21 plays.
But that was about as close as it got. Mater Dei was at risk of giving De La Salle a chance to tie the game, but early in the fourth quarter, Beierly connected with Dixon-Wyatt on 4th-and-2 and Marcus Harris on 3rd-and-13 to set up Jordon Davison’s second touchdown run of the game. That put the Monarchs up 30-15 with 8:19 left in the game and instantly restored their moment.
Mater Dei vs. De La Salle live updates:
4th Quarter:
2:05: More icing on the cake. Freshman Ace Letuli dives to intercept a desperation throw from Faavae with one hand.
3:32: Mater Dei fumbles it right back. DJ Asiasi made a nice effort to recover it for De La Salle.
3:39: Abduall Sanders makes another big play before the night (and season) ends, picking off Brayden Knight and returning it roughly 25 yards to midfield.
5:11: Mater Dei 37, De La Salle 15: Dash Beierly might have put the game away, finding 5-star TE Mark Bowman for a 31-yard touchdown catch.
6:14: The Monarchs turn De La Salle over on downs on 4th-and-15 in their own territory thanks to an Abduall Sanders pass break-up.
8:19: Mater Dei 30, De La Salle 15: Davison, back in the game now, plows 16 yards through the Spartans’ defense on the next play and stays on his feet while finding the end zone. PAT is good.
Big TD for Jordon Davison, caps a 16-play, 92 yard drive! Mater Dei showed heart on that march 💯 pic.twitter.com/m15Ot2kdhu
— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) December 15, 2024
8:55: Beierly completes another accurate pass for first down, this time on 3rd-and-13, connecting with Marcus Harris.
10:31: Dash Beierly finds Kayden Dixon-Wyatt on 4th-and-2 in De La Salle territory.
3rd Quarter:
4:20: Mater Dei 23, De La Salle 15: It’s a one-score game. Derrick Blanche Jr. powered in a two-point conversion.
👀One score game! De La Salle breaks 41yd TD run and add 2 pt and it’s 23-15 4:14 pic.twitter.com/d9V7Zf3ZkB
— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) December 15, 2024
4:20: Mater Dei 23, De La Salle 13: After forcing a punt, De La Salle rattled off its second straight convincing touchdown drive finish off by a Toa Faavae rushing score – this time from 41 yards out.
@TFaavae with 41-yard TD spring. 2-point conversion good. Is it really a one-score game. If not before, de La Salle has Mater Dei’s attention. Mater Dei 23, De La Salle 15. pic.twitter.com/VuSLqNXJb9
— Mitch Stephens (@MitchBookLive) December 15, 2024
7:17: Mater Dei 23, De La Salle 7: The Spartans’ run game was rejuvenated in their second half-opening drive, and Toa Faavae finished a methodical 65-yard drive with a short QB sneak after marching his team up the field. It’s the first score by a Northern California team in the Open Division championship in 12 quarters, going back to the third quarter of Mater Dei’s 2021 demolition of Serra (San Mateo).
Halftime score: Mater Dei 23, De La Salle 0
2nd Quarter:
0:48: Mater Dei 23, De La Salle 0: Kayden Dixon-Wyatt breaks free out of an in-tight trips bunch on a corner route, and scores easily from 21 yards out.
It doesn’t take long for this team to score! @DashBeierly hits @kayyydeenn and with 48 seconds left it is a 23-0 @MDFootball lead. pic.twitter.com/TBD5dCvyZN
— West Coast Preps (@westcoastpreps_) December 15, 2024
2:09: Mater Dei 16, De La Salle 0: Toa Faavae recovers an errant snap in De La Salle’s end zone, but is tackled by Shaun Scott for a safety.
3:38: De La Salle turns Mater Dei over on downs in the red zone. Jordon Davison exited with an apparent arm/wrist during the series.
9:06: Shaun Scott intercepts the Spartans on a pass that was tipped by Nasir Wyatt.
1st Quarter:
0:40: Kennie Leggett runs roughly 20 yards for a first down on a Mater Dei 4th-and-two.
3:39: Mater Dei 14, De La Salle 0: One drive, one play, one 90-yard touchdown. Beierly to Gavin Honore.
Dial up a 90 yd TD pass in the state final! @DashBeierly to @HonoreGavin! pic.twitter.com/drkSG3bAgP
— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) December 15, 2024
5:56: Mater Dei turns the ball over on downs on 4th-and-3.
7:18: De La Salle goes three-and-out, but Justin Uribarri uncorks a 71-yard punt to flip the field.
8:57: Mater Dei 7, De La Salle 0: Dash Beierly led a seven-play, 80-yard drive with a series of tough completions capped off by a rushing touchdown by Jordon Davison.
Mater Dei wins the coin toss and elects to receive.
Preview:
Northern California hasn’t had an Open Division state champion since De La Salle beat Corona Centennial 28-21 in 2015.
Mater Dei beat Serra (San Mateo) 44-7 in 2021 and 35-0 in 2023 in its last two state finals appearances, and St. John Bosco beat Serra 45-0 in the 2022 championship. And this Monarchs team is more or less as talented and highly-favored to win state as it was in its previous two appearances. The Monarchs won 35-21 when these teams last met to win the 2018 Open Division state title, and 52-21 against De La Salle the prior year.
The Trinity League titans have won up front – usually in dominating fashion – in every one of Southern California’s seven straight Open Division titles. And De La Salle and Serra haven’t been able to consistently break off big plays to even begin to make up for it in all but a couple of those appearances.
Could 2024 be different enough for this to be a close game?
Probably not, but De La Salle does have a leg up in these departments on some Northern California alphas of the recent past. This is the Spartans’ biggest, strongest team in the trenches since at least 2019 by many accounts. And more central to their 2024 identity is their top-end speed. With an elite running back corps consisting of Derrick Blanche Jr., Dominic Kelley, Jaden Jefferson, and Deuce Jones-Drew paired with dual-threat QB Toa Faavae, the Spartans have a better chance to rattle off some big plays offensively than most previous NorCal entrants.
Nonetheless, it’s hard to make an argument against the undefeated reigning national champion on this one. The Monarchs have only been played down to the wire once this season, although it was just two weeks ago against a familiar face, St. John Bosco.
Mater Dei has an estimated three-dozen established Division I prospects, more than half of whom are full-blown national recruits. And a few of their best players this season aren’t even their biggest recruiting names. Through 12 games, this is what an undisputed national champion looks like on both paper and the field.
De La Salle has one of the best running attacks in the country, but the Spartans still only managed 10 points last week against Pittsburg. They’ll need more than that to beat Mater Dei. Can they establish what’s been an inconsistent aerial attack against one of the stronger high school secondaries of the last five years? If so, their running game can probably operate too.
Check out the full Mater Dei vs. De La Salle game preview here.
