Sign Up for Our Newsletter!
Host Bob Gibson interviews coaches and players throughout the various Catholic high schools in Orange County. For this episode, he is on location at Mater Dei High School.
Today’s guests include: Richard Mercado (Head baseball coach at Mater Dei); Eric Sondheimer (the dean of prep sportswriters in SoCal – L.A.Times) and Eric Michaut (Girls tennis coach at Santa Margarita Catholic H.S.)
Originally broadcast on 10/27/18
Servite used to be the biggest game on Mater Dei’s schedule.
Not anymore.
The Monarchs have begun taking on national powerhouses in recent years, and they continue to have success.
They knocked off IMG Academy of Florida 28-24 in a much-anticipated showdown on Sept. 21 at Santa Ana Stadium. IMG came into the game ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and owners of a 40-game winning streak.
Last season, Mater Dei was ranked No. 1 in the nation when it defeated No. 2 Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas to end its 55-game winning streak.
After the big win against IMG, the Monarchs had to turn around and begin preparation for its Trinity League opener against Servite a week later.
The game was back at Santa Ana Stadium, only Mater Dei was on the visitor side because Servite had secured the venue for its homecoming.
Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson said he was concerned all week about an emotional letdown following the win against IMG. The Monarchs didn’t practice well at the beginning of the week and committed several penalties in the first quarter against Servite, but stayed on course and delivered a 35-0 victory for their fourth shutout in six games and seventh straight win against the Friars.
“I’m glad we didn’t get trapped,” Rollinson said afterward.
Mater Dei quarterback Bryce Young said losing to Servite never seemed like a possibility, mainly because the Monarchs are so well prepared by the coaching staff.
We came in with that same fire, that same mentality, that we come in with every Monday,” he said. “This group, because of all the preparation, I don’t feel like we’re going to let down.”
If the Monarchs weren’t deep enough with talent at their skilled positions, they got even deeper after the win against IMG.
Braedin Huffman-Dixon had to sit out the first five games under CIF-SS transfer rules, but the senior wide receiver became eligible against Servite.
He made his presence felt on the very first drive for Mater Dei, scoring on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Young.
Huffman-Dixon played at Roosevelt High in Eastvale last season, where he caught 44 passes for 912 yards and 11 touchdowns in 11 games. He committed to Colorado in May.
“Even while he wasn’t eligible, he was big for us in the locker room, big for us at practice,” Young said. “Now, I’m happy to have him back because he’s a big-time player on the outside and the inside, so I feel like we’ve just that much more dangerous.”
Elias Ricks, a junior defensive back for the Monarchs, has been covering Huffman-Dixon in practice all season, and is certainly aware of the talent he brings to the Monarchs.
“He’s a real good receiver,” Ricks said. “A lot of people don’t know about him, he hasn’t played at all this year, but he’s about to explode on the scene and make something happen.”
Ricks has been one of the most valuable members of the defense through the first six games. He had four interceptions in that span, the biggest leading to a 77-yard touchdown return against Servite.
“I’m trying to double all my stats from last year,” Ricks said. “I had four picks last year, so I’m on a good track right now.”
Ricks, like the Monarchs, has definitely been rolling on all four wheels.
Nearly 18 months and 2,000 miles separated those spectacular headers by Haley Hopkins. Both goals came in the closing minutes of tied soccer games, and each held up as the game-winner.
Hopkins scored the first as a senior at Mater Dei on Feb. 28, 2017, redirecting a corner kick to break a 0-0 tie against Hart in overtime of the CIF-SS Division I semifinal.
The second occurred last month, giving Vanderbilt a 2-1 lead over Miami with about two minutes left and the Commodores held on for the confidence-building, early-season win.
In between those electrifying goals, however, Hopkins experienced some of her most difficult days, long stretches that had her wondering if she’d ever play soccer again.
Like most student athletes, the challenges began shortly after Hopkins arrived at Vanderbilt in August of 2017, but these weren’t the typical stresses teenagers face when they leave home for the first time.
Instead, she felt increasing pain and swelling in her right knee and couldn’t pinpoint how the injury may have occurred.
The training staff drained the knee area, allowing Hopkins to make her college debut, but the pain and discomfort continued.
Ultimately, it was discovered that Hopkins had a staph infection, which forced her to be rushed into surgery. Hopkins was released from the hospital a few days later, but the infection returned and she had to undergo another procedure.
“Coming in as a freshman, it’s never easy in the first place,” Hopkins told the Vanderbilt student newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler. “Going through something like that definitely is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
Getting back on the field last fall seemed like a longshot, so Hopkins was given a medical redshirt. She had to watch from the sideline as the Commodores advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Her parents returned to Southern California shortly after the second surgery, forcing Hopkins to rely on her teammates and coaches to help her through the recovery.
“It was a really hard time in my life for sure,” she told the student newspaper. “But coming in, already having friends on the team and knowing that everyone would be there for me. … Coaches were constantly checking in with me, trainers, friends visiting me in the hospital. I constantly had people checking in from home. Definitely having the team and support system here really got me through that.”
Hopkins was back on the field last spring and even travelled to Japan with her teammates to play in a few exhibition matches.
The regular season began in mid-August and Hopkins contributed her first collegiate point by assisting on the first goal in a 3-0 win at Jacksonville on Aug. 19.
Five days later, Vanderbilt was locked in a 1-1 tie with Miami in the opening game of the Music City Invitational in Nashville when Hopkins headed in the game-winner with two minutes left.
That was the beginning of a smoldering start for Hopkins, who produced five goals and three assists in first eight games to help the Commodores to a 7-1 record heading into the SEC play.
“I think the team, even last year watching the team go that far in the NCAA tournament, was so exciting to be a part of,” Hopkins said. “I just think this year that the team most definitely has the potential to do even more, to go even further.”
Host Bob Gibson interviews coaches and players throughout the various Catholic high schools in Orange County.
Today’s guests include: Paul Westphal (long-time voice of the Mater Dei Monarchs); Pat Harlow (head football coach at J Serra Catholic H.S.); Mark Laulhere (head surfing coach at Orange Lutheran H.S.) and Steve Churm (Executive VP of public relations with Five Point)
Originally broadcast on 9/15/18
Sunset was still a half hour away when the Bryce Young-era began on a sweltering evening inside Santa Ana Stadium on Aug. 17.
He took three steps back on his first play from scrimmage as the starting quarterback for the defending national championship Mater Dei football team and effortlessly completed a pass to his left side.
Young completed his second throw on the opening drive of the season as well, helping the Monarchs march down the field and score a touchdown, taking a lead they’d maintain the rest of the way in the 42-14 win against Bishop Amat.
“Really good first win,” Young said afterward. “We won this decisively. We can’t really complain at all.”
Unfortunately, the thrill of victory would last less than a week. Five days after knocking off Bishop Amat, the Monarchs forfeited the win because they used an ineligible player during the game. The unidentified player had already exhausted his eight semesters of eligibility, something that wasn’t verified until after the game.
It was the first loss for Mater Dei since the final game of the 2016 season.
The Monarchs went 15-0 a year ago to capture the Trinity League title and win the CIF-State Open Division Bowl Game, something that surely caught Young’s attention after his sophomore season ended at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles.
The opportunity to play quarterback for the Monarchs then became a real possibility when JT Daniels decided in December to skip his senior season at Mater Dei and enroll at USC in hopes of winning the starting job with the Trojans.
Daniels passed for 12,014 yards and 152 touchdowns as the starting quarterback for the Monarchs the past three seasons.
Two weeks after Daniels made that decision, Young announced he was transferring to Mater Dei, one the most prominent high schools in the country when it comes to producing top-notch players at that highly visible position.
In late July, Young committed to USC, following in the footsteps of former Mater Dei quarterbacks Daniels, Matt Barkley and Matt Leinart.
Young said he didn’t feel any butterflies taking the field in his team debut.
“I really felt a lot calmer than at one point I thought I would,” he said. “That’s a credit to my teammates. They did a great job.”
Putting teammates ahead of one’s self is a virtue of a great leader, and Young certainly benefited from a strong supporting cast.
Running backs Shakobe Harper and Sean Dollars helped take pressure off Young by rushing for more than 100 yards each and combining for five of the six rushing touchdowns.
“Our running game really carried us, really stepped up,” Young said.
Young also flashed his running ability on what was likely the biggest touchdown of the game.
He scrambled 19 yards for a score with three seconds left in the first half to extend the lead to 28-7 and Bishop Amat never pulled any closer after halftime.
Young finished 12-for-20 for 108 passing yards and an interception. He also ran for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Young will likely need to polish his downfield throws, as he overthrew a few wide-open receivers. He also had problems with some low snaps from center out of the shotgun.
Beyond that, he looked like the next great quarterback to emerge from Mater Dei.
Miles Simon has always been surrounded by exceptional basketball minds and superior on-court talent.
He starred for a Mater Dei team in the early 1990s that had six players sign with an NCAA Division I school.
Fast forward a quarter century and Simon still seems to land in the right place at the right time.
He was named head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers summer league team in late June. If that didn’t come with a lot of attention and responsibility, the franchise doubled down when they added free agent superstar LeBron James on July 1.
James and other veterans don’t participate in the summer league, but that didn’t prevent fans from streaming to Las Vegas for the Lakers’ summer-league opener on July 2 against the Sacramento Kings at the California Classic.
Golden 1 Center was filled to capacity for Simon’s debut.
“It was awesome, just the excitement level that I had in making the decisions,” Simon told reporters afterward. “I really had a lot of fun out there, and my group, and my staff especially, makes everything so easy on me because of how sharp they are.”
Simon learned a lot from Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight, who recently competed his 36th season at the school. He also gleaned plenty from former Arizona coach Lute Olson, who coached Simon from 1994-98 and won a national championship together in 1997.
Playing for coaches like McKnight and Olson, and for top-level programs like Mater Dei and Arizona, will also build up a players’ competitive level, and Simon is no exception.
When asked if the final score of the summer league games were important to him, Simon was quick to answer.
“We come in with a goal to not only compete, but to win,” he said. “We want, as a Lakers organization, a competitive culture, guys that have a winning attitude about everything, and being able to compete on nightly basis.”
Simon has no shortage of winners on his roster.
Josh Hart led Villanova to the NCAA Tournament title in 2016, and Joel Berry II did the same for North Carolina in 2017.
Johnathan Williams was on the Gonzaga team that lost to North Carolina in the 2017 title game, while Moritz Wagner played for Michigan, which lost to Villanova in the 2018 championship game.
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Malik Newman also led Kansas into the Final Four last March.
“This team is very resilient, I can tell,” Simon said. “We have a lot of winners on this team, some national champions, guys that went to Final Fours.”
With the addition of James and several other free agents this summer, the Los Angeles roster will look a lot different than at the end of last season.
One of the first things Simon told his players before their first game was to put those thoughts aside.
“It’s an exciting time to be a Laker,” he said. “We are one of the greatest franchises in sports history, but I told them, ‘Block all that out, because these next couple weeks is all about these guys and their journey and how they’re going to start to make their mark, and their footprint, in the NBA. This is really, truly about these guys that we have in the locker room, wearing these uniforms.”
Mater Dei High School Music Academy believes in building individual confidence and group collaboration by pursuing excellence from day one. All students are encouraged to excel spiritually, and musically through expression and individual creativity. Students who are involved in music are more likely to stay engaged in school, earn higher grades, build intellectual curiosity and creative thinking skills, develop language and reasoning skills, and build pride and confidence within themselves.
Mater Dei High School Band Camp registration is open for students in 4th – 8th grade. The Monday-Friday band camp will be held at Mater Dei from July 9-13. Mater Dei’s experienced teachers will teach your child everything they need to know, step by step. From how to assemble and care for the instrument to reading notes and rhythms, your child will be guided through the process.
Summer camp registration is $150. The fee covers: five days of instruction (private and large group), camp t-shirt, music folder, music, instrument (if student does not currently own one), team building games/activities, and many more.
The costs associated with band depend on which instrument your child chooses and if you already own an instrument. Families may visit bepartoftheband.com, watch the different instrument videos with your child, and discuss the different options. Teachers will also help guide your child based on his/her musical interests, physical make-up, and instrument availability. Your child knows what he/she wants, you know your child, and Mater Dei teachers know music. Together, your child will find the instrument that he/she will not only enjoy but will give his/her best chance of musical success.
Enroll online materdei.org/musicacademy or call 714-641-5455. Registration is open until July 3, 2018. If financial constraints prevents your child from being able to attend summer band camp, please reach out to Taylor Smith at [email protected].
Host Bob Gibson interviews coaches and players throughout the various Catholic high schools in Orange County. We’ve got another packed show for you today. Our guests include: Luke Maxwell (youcantbeerased.com); Steve Churm (Great Park Sports Park project in Irvine, CA); and Rick Thompson (head coach of “E Sports” at Mater Dei High School).
Originally broadcast on 6/30/18
When he hopped on that plane to Seattle following his sophomore year at Mater Dei three years ago, Jonathan Schiffer was looking forward to attending a baseball camp at the University of Washington, though he didn’t know much about the program.
Schiffer certainly didn’t realize the Huskies were the only Pac-12 team never to qualify for the College World Series.
Schiffer knows now, of course, and the freshman first baseman for Washington played a big part in the victory that propelled Washington onto college baseball’s biggest stage.
Schiffer’s game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning against Cal State Fullerton on June 10 kept that hope alive, and the Huskies rallied again in the 10th to win 6-5 and uncork a celebration they had never experienced before.
Washington started its baseball program in 1901. The College World Series began in 1947. Never had they merged until 2018.
Schiffer is the type of player Washington coach Lindsay Meggs has been recruiting ever since he was hired by the school in 2009, but also the kind of player who often ends up at Cal State Fullerton, a program that was seeking its 19th College World Series appearance and fifth national title before Washington got in the way.
“When I got hired, we talked about trying to play the type of game Cal State Fullerton plays,” Schiffer told the Seattle Times after advancing to the College World Series. “We knew we were behind physically, so we did our best to get guys who never quit, who like to play hard, who aren’t afraid to be at the plate, or come out of the bullpen with the game on the line.”
In the rubber game of their best-of-3 Super Regional at Cal State Fullerton, the Huskies were down to their final two outs when Schiffer rolled a ground ball through the left side to score a runner from second base and tie the score, 4-4.
Fullerton hit a home run to lead off the 10th and it appeared Schiffer’s timely hit an inning earlier might go for naught, but Washington took advantage of some defensive mistakes by the Titans to score two runs in the 10th.
Schiffer spent four years on the varsity at Mater Dei, but didn’t experience a deep playoff run until his senior season in 2017. As the team’s best two-way player, Schiffer threw two complete games in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs to help push the Monarchs into the semifinals, where they lost to eventual champion El Toro.
Schiffer went 9-1 overall with a 1.57 ERA as a senior at Mater Dei. At the plate, he hit 360 with seven doubles and three home runs.
It was after Schiffer’s sophomore year that he decided to check out a baseball camp at Washington. He told the team web site earlier this year that he was impressed with the region the moment his plane began circling overhead.
“Seeing the city, seeing the Space Needle, I was looking out the window like ‘This place is awesome, it seems like a really cool place.’ “he remembered. “I drove in, I saw the field, saw the facility, met with the coaches, and I had a heart-to-heart with my parents and I said, ‘this place is awesome, this is where I want to be.’ For me, it was honestly a no brainer.”
Three years later, it’s looking like an even better decision.
When he hopped on that plane to Seattle following his sophomore year at Mater Dei three years ago, Jonathan Schiffer was looking forward to attending a baseball camp at the University of Washington, though he didn’t know much about the program.
Schiffer certainly didn’t realize the Huskies were the only Pac-12 team never to qualify for the College World Series.
Schiffer knows now, of course, and the freshman first baseman for Washington played a big part in the victory that propelled Washington onto college baseball’s biggest stage.
Schiffer’s game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning against Cal State Fullerton on June 10 kept that hope alive, and the Huskies rallied again in the 10th to win 6-5 and uncork a celebration they had never experienced before.
Washington started its baseball program in 1901. The College World Series began in 1947. Never had they merged until 2018.
Schiffer is the type of player Washington coach Lindsay Meggs has been recruiting ever since he was hired by the school in 2009, but also the kind of player who often ends up at Cal State Fullerton, a program that was seeking its 19th College World Series appearance and fifth national title before Washington got in the way.
“When I got hired, we talked about trying to play the type of game Cal State Fullerton plays,” Schiffer told the Seattle Times after advancing to the College World Series. “We knew we were behind physically, so we did our best to get guys who never quit, who like to play hard, who aren’t afraid to be at the plate, or come out of the bullpen with the game on the line.”
In the rubber game of their best-of-3 Super Regional at Cal State Fullerton, the Huskies were down to their final two outs when Schiffer rolled a ground ball through the left side to score a runner from second base and tie the score, 4-4.
Fullerton hit a home run to lead off the 10th and it appeared Schiffer’s timely hit an inning earlier might go for naught, but Washington took advantage of some defensive mistakes by the Titans to score two runs in the 10th.
Schiffer spent four years on the varsity at Mater Dei, but didn’t experience a deep playoff run until his senior season in 2017. As the team’s best two-way player, Schiffer threw two complete games in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs to help push the Monarchs into the semifinals, where they lost to eventual champion El Toro.
Schiffer went 9-1 overall with a 1.57 ERA as a senior at Mater Dei. At the plate, he hit 360 with seven doubles and three home runs.
It was after Schiffer’s sophomore year that he decided to check out a baseball camp at Washington. He told the team web site earlier this year that he was impressed with the region the moment his plane began circling overhead.
“Seeing the city, seeing the Space Needle, I was looking out the window like ‘This place is awesome, it seems like a really cool place.’ “he remembered. “I drove in, I saw the field, saw the facility, met with the coaches, and I had a heart-to-heart with my parents and I said, ‘this place is awesome, this is where I want to be.’ For me, it was honestly a no brainer.”
Three years later, it’s looking like an even better decision.
