Mater Dei football generally wins its championships in October (Trinity League), November (CIF-Southern Section Division 1), and December (state and national).
But why not add a title in July to its usual pursuits?
On Saturday at Long Beach Poly’s first ever Nike Legends 7v7 Invitational, the Monarchs overcame an 0-2 start – losses to Poly and Inglewood in pool play – to win the passing tournament’s inaugural title.
They rebounded to beat Mayfair and Muir before getting revenge against both South L.A. juggernauts they lost to. Mater Dei’s third win came against Inglewood before it finished strong against Inglewood, Etiwanda, and Long Beach Poly in the playoffs.
For Mater Dei’s second-year head coach Raul Lara, it was a return to his alma mater, which he coached to five CIF-SS titles from 2001-13. In his first season at Mater Dei, the Monarchs went undefeated en-route to an undisputed national championship. They are widely ranked as the No. 1 team in the country entering 2025.
In case you were wondering when the last time Mater Dei even lost two games in an actual season with playoffs included, you’d have to go back a decade to 2015. That year, the Monarchs went 8-2 in the regular season with a 42-21 loss to St. John Bosco and 35-28 loss to JSerra for third place in the Trinity League. They went on to win 66-14 against Lakewood and 28-27 over Serra (Gardena) before falling 42-36 to Corona Centennial in the Southern Section semifinals to finish 10-3, with a No. 5 statewide ranking and No. 17 national ranking from MaxPreps. (Centennial went on to beat St. John Bosco 62-52 in the title game before losing 28-21 to De La Salle with a state crown and disputed national title on the line.) Who knows if they’ll ever lose two games in a season again?
Mater Dei opens the 2025 regular season on Saturday, Aug. 23 in Florida at St. Thomas Aquinas, another perennial national power and the reigning FHSAA 5A state champion.
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