Mater Dei Aims for De La Salle

Santa Ana Mater Dei High’s football team has a chance to make history tonight when the Monarchs try to end Concord De La Salle’s national-record 90-game winning streak.

Kickoff is at 7:30 at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports West 2.

De La Salle, under Coach Bob Ladouceur, has not lost since 1991. The Spartans (2-0) have beaten Richmond, 57-6, and Bakersfield, 35-8, this season. In both games, De La Salle was working on shutouts at halftime, and a running clock was employed in the second half.

Mater Dei (1-1) lost its opener to Fresno Clovis West, 24-17, and beat Anaheim Loara, 35-0, last week.

“We made the kind of mistakes we will not get away with against De La Salle,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said after the Loara victory. “We still have some growing up to do.”

Mater Dei had a chance to end De La Salle’s streak at 78 last year, but the Monarchs lost, 28-21, before 20,781 at Edison Field. De La Salle limited the Monarchs to 17 yards rushing in Mater Dei’s only defeat of the season.

Mater Dei is led by senior Matt Grootegoed, who plays quarterback and running back and is regarded as one of the top defensive backs in the nation.

Senior halfback/linebacker D.J. Williams, one of the top players in the country, leads De La Salle.