So much for playing for second place. So much for getting down. So much for freshmen folding under pressure.
The host, Mater Dei, rides on the arms and legs of the new midfielder
Two bytes guesshad a game for the ages, fighting back from a 14-point deficit in the final 3:26 to clinch a wild 36-35 Trinity League win.
Rookie midfielder Paytyn Guess cemented his place in Mater Dei lore on Friday night by leading a dramatic comeback against rival Mater Dei. (Photo: Rene Morales)
Guess first completed a 12-yard touchdown pass with 7.5 seconds remaining that his new teammate snatched out of the air Tristan Brown To approach 35-34.
Then instead of a kick in overtime, Mater Dei head coach Raul Lara called a timeout and the Monarchs engineered a beautiful wheel route for the sophomore tight end
Tyler Fritzwho made a juggling catch — his only one of the night — for the win.
Just four minutes earlier, Guess (12 of 16, 249 yards, five total touchdowns) answered Bosco’s 21-0 second-half lead with a 55-yard strike to
Gavin Honoré (4 catches, 108 yards) with 3:26 remaining. Up until that point, Mater Dei had managed just 37 yards on 15 second-half plays.
After the Braves scored one goal for the first time, Mater Dei got the ball back to 28 in less than a minute and no timeout. Guess immediately connected with Brown on a 49-yard reception and five plays later delivered his third TD pass of the game, setting up the two-point conversion and the win.
Together with A
Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita) After winning to clinch the title, Mater Dei (8-2, 4-1) earned the league’s No. 2 seed and likely the No. 3 seed in next week’s Southern Section Division I playoffs. St. John Bosco (7-3, 3-2), which scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to take a seemingly 35-21 lead, will enter the playoffs in fourth or fifth place.
Mater Dei’s Tyler Fritz pulls down the game-winning two-point conversion. (Photo: Rene Morales)
Bosco, which entered the season ranked No. 1 nationally, lost its fifth straight series with the Kings.
After an impressive but frustrating first half, St. John Bosco tied it up at 21-21 with 8:48 remaining in the third period on a beautiful 27-yard pass from
Dark warrior to
Trevon Bates. Completion of 27 yards to
Jacob Reed Set up the result. Malau’ulu, a third-year starter, completed 24 of 33 attempts for 332 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed to one.
After a second 3-and-out punt, Malau’ulu made the Kings pay with five more completions, three to Reid and another one that set up a dime in the back left corner of the end zone to the 6-foot-4 sophomore.
Queen King. That gave the Braves their first lead of the game 28-21 with 3:50 remaining in the third period.
The Braves extended their lead to 35-21 when
Malik Allen He capped off the 55-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run with 4:35 left. Moaalii’s 47-yard completion set up the touchdown and with the way Bosco’s defense played in the second half, that appeared to be over.
Instead, Mater Dei improved its record against the rival Braves to 34-13 in what was sure to be a painful loss for Bosco.
The Monarchs won last year’s game 36-31 and the I-Southern Section title in 2024 and 2023.
