Corona Centennial Huskies
By Jerry Soifer
A lot can change for a man in 61 years. Sometimes, the surroundings metastasize more than the man.
On Nov. 22, 1963, I was assigned to cover a football game at Palisades High School in Los Angeles for the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, a now-defunct suburban newspaper. I was a sophomore who lived in the dorms at UCLA.
Because my parents could afford one car, I took the bus home to get the car to drive to the game.
I was a budding sportswriter who hoped to write about pros and Olympians one day. Before I was 10, I had read the biography of two-time Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias seven times.
There was no game to cover 61 years ago. On the way back to UCLA, I heard on the radio of the Chevrolet station wagon that Pres. John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. Life in America came to a standstill. All sports save for the NFL were postponed or canceled. I spent the weekend at my parents.
Sixty-one years later, Nov. 22, 2024, I’m assigned to cover Corona Centennial hosting Santa Ana Mater Dei in one CIF Div. 1 semi-final, a match-up of the #1 and #12 teams in the nation.
My life hasn’t changed much though I’m more a photographer than a writer. What has changed significantly are the players. They are potential pros and college-bound players motivated in part by the dramatic change in the finances of getting a college education.
I paid $85 per quarter during my five years at UCLA. Now, in-state tuition costs $15,154
Some schools lose players when some see their path to the first string blocked by a superior player.
Mater Dei lost starting quarterback Dash Beierly to injury at the end of the first half against Centennial.
The Monarchs didn’t miss a beat. Furian Inferrera took over at quarterback and Mater Dei pulled away to a 36-7.
Centennial players made mistakes, gave up turnovers, and weren’t able to score in the red zone. Centennial coach Matt Logan said his team was not intimidated by the team rated No. 1 in the country.
He said, “I don’t think we were intimidated by them. It was a two-point game with three minutes to go in the half and we had two costly mistakes that resulted in 14 points. We can’t make mistakes like that against such a talented team.”
Mater Dei coach Raul Lara did not deny the intimidation factor. The coach said he inherited a tremendous amount of talent in his first year at Mater Dei after stints at Long Beach Poly and St. Anthony’s.
He said his offensive players told him they are glad their defensive players wear the same uniforms as they do and are not across the line of scrimmage.
Because the two teams have so much talent, they have a hard time scheduling non-league games, so they played each other in the season opener. Mater Dei won 42-25.
The second game for Centennial was a costly loss, a 31-15 defeat by Rancho Santa Margarita.
The loss was devastating. The Huskies came back to win nine straight including the playoff opener at then-undefeated Mission Viejo.
“Yep, that loss to SM cost us dearly and probably the #2 seed,” said Logan. “We played horrible. One (of the) worst executed games on offense that I have ever been a part of. The team responded well after the 0-2 start, and they stayed the course to work and improve.”
The two Trinity League private schools, Mater Dei and Bellflower St. John Bosco meet again for the section title tonight, at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. The Monarchs won the league game in October, 59-14. Five times since 2016, the regular season winner has lost to the other in the playoffs.
In 2014, Public School Centennial dropped its opener to Mater Dei, only to eliminate the Monarchs in the playoffs en route to a section title, defeating St. John Bosco. The Huskies repeated in 2016, beating both Mater Dei and Bosco, and are the last school to defeat the Monarchs other than Bosco in the 8 years since.
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| Mater Dei | 36 | Centennial | 7 |
| Oaks Christian | 52 | Murrieta Valley | 55 (OT) |
| Edison | 42 | Vista Murrieta | 14 |
| Murrieta Mesa | 31 | St. Francis | 28 |
| Woodrow Wilson | 32 | Great Oak | 13 |